Treating Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Drugs That Fight HIV

These drugs are often given in combination, referred to popularly as AIDS cocktails . They include:

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors:

• AZT (Zidovudine or ZDV)
• ddC ( Zalcitabine )
• ddI (dideoxyinosine)
• d4T ( Stavudine )
• 3TC ( Lamivudine )
• Emtricitabine (Emtriva)
• Abacavir (Ziagen)
  • In some patients, abacavir can cause a hypersensitivity reaction, which can be life-threatening. Researchers found that screening for a particular gene can help to prevent this reaction. *²

Nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors:

• Delavirdine (Rescriptor)
• Nevirapine (Viramune)
• Efavirenz (Sustiva)

Protease inhibitors:

• Ritonavir (Norvir)
• Saquinavir (Invirase)
• Indinavir (Crixivan)
• Amprenavir (Agenerase)
• Nelfinavir (Viracept)
• Lopinavir (Kaletra)
• Atazanavir (Reyataz)
• Tipranavir (Aptivus)
• Darunavir (Prezista)

Combination pill:

• Atripla (Efavirenz, Tenofovir and Emtricitabine)
• Enfuvirtide (Fuzeon)
• Raltegravir (Isentress)
• Maraviroc (Selzentry)

Drugs That Fight AIDS-Related Infections and Cancers

People who have developed AIDS are treated with numerous drugs that help prevent:

• Pneumonia
• Thrush
• Repeated herpes infections
• Toxoplasma brain infections