THE MANAGEMENT OF EARLY HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION

The outcome of treatment in patients with early asymptomatic HIV disease has recently improved. Clinical trials with zidovudine have demonstrated efficacy and greatly reduced toxicity when the drug is used in asymptomatic HIV-infected persons who have fewer than 500 CD4+ cells/mm3, and resistance to this drug in these patients is less frequent and severe. Also, the optimum dosage of zidovudine is less than previously believed, probably in the range of 500-600 mg daily given in oral divided doses. The use of antibiotics to prevent Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is also of clear value in HIV-infected asymptomatic or symptomatic persons with fewer than 200 CD4+ cells/mm3. Oral regimens such as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or dapsone alone appear to be effective and are gaining preference over aerosolized pentamidine that is considerably more expensive. Together these medical advances argue for the encouragement of voluntary HIV testing to enable early diagnosis and, hence, optimum medical monitoring and appropriate intervention. These issues and recommendations for laboratory and clinical monitoring will be provided in this review.