Clinical aspects of HIV infection and AIDS: Prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections

Attesting to the continuing need for newer, more efficacious and less toxic therapies, this year's medical literature is replete with reports describing advances in the treatment and prophylaxis of the serious opportunistic infections associated with AIDS. Patients at risk for these infections, generally considered to be those individuals with fewer than 200 CD4+ lymphocytes per μl, are increasing in number as a direct consequence of survival benefits attributed to antiretroviral therapy and improved treatment and prophylaxis of the major opportunistic infections and cancers. In spite of continued and notable improvements in this area, options for many patients remain severely limited by therapies characterized by suboptimal efficacy and/or intolerable adverse consequences.