GUIDELINES

Major updates to US guidelines on prevention and treatment of OIs

Two important new long-awaited guidelines relating to the management and treatment of opportunistic infections were published online in June.

At over 200 pages each (plus references), both documents, available as searchable PDF files, are significant reference resources.

Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents
Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections among HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children

Major changes to the 2004 edition of the adult guidelines include:

More emphasis on the importance of ART for prevention and treatment of OIs, especially those for which specific chemoprophylaxis and treatment do not exist;
Information on diagnosis and management of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndromes (IRIS);
Information on interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) for the detection of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection;
Updated information on drug interactions affecting use of rifamycin drugs for prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB);
The addition of a section on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection; and
The addition of a section on malaria to the OIs of geographic interest.

The paediatric guidelines include similar revision to the previous 2005 guidelines.

The focus for both guidelines reflect the most common opportunistic infections experienced by patients treated in the US.

Both documents are available to view and download from the AIDSInfo web site
http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov