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Encyclopedia of AIDS pp 1–8Cite as

Antiretroviral Therapy: When to Start

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Clinicians have debated the optimal time to initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) since the availability of antiretroviral in the late 1980s. While discussions and guidelines have generally centered around the CD4 cell count, the debate over when to start has seen shifts from waiting for disease progression to AIDS to starting immediately at time of HIV diagnosis. These paradigm shifts have largely been driven by recognition of complications of older antiretroviral regimens; the availability of safer, simpler, and better tolerated antiretroviral regimens; and evidence from both cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. Treatment guidelines are currently provided by several groups and have been updated multiple times to reflect new HIV knowledge and gaps. These groups include the World Health Organization (WHO) (Consolidated strategic information guidelines 2015), the British HIV Association (BHIVA) (BHIVA guidelines for the treatment of HIV-1 2015), the European AIDS...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, 525 East 68th St., Box 97, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Harjot K. Singh & Marshall J. Glesby

Authors
  1. Harjot K. Singh
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  2. Marshall J. Glesby
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marshall J. Glesby .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Cell & Molecular Biology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Thomas J. Hope

  2. Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Mario Stevenson

  3. University of California, San Diego Dept. Pathology, La Jolla, California, USA

    Douglas Richman

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Singh, H.K., Glesby, M.J. (2015). Antiretroviral Therapy: When to Start. In: Hope, T., Stevenson, M., Richman, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of AIDS. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_444-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_444-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9610-6

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