Preventing and Treating Opportunistic Infections

Where available, preventive therapies and treatment of opportunistic infections can help prevent opportunistic infections, reduce mortality, slow the progress of HIV infection, and ease painful symptoms.

Therapies to prevent some of the most common opportunistic infections are shown in the following table:

Unfortunately, in many low-resource settings facilities for diagnosis are inadequate and drug supplies are erratic, even for those opportunistic infections that are easy to diagnose and less costly to treat. Access to treatment for clients in these settings will remain compromised until drugs and diagnostic equipment are accessible and countries can afford to equip their health systems with the necessary infrastructure and well-trained staff.

Preventive therapies for and treatment of opportunistic infections are important elements of the continuum of care that can be more realistically achieved in developing countries in the short and medium term than antiretroviral-drug therapy. Recently, there has been renewed international action to curb tuberculosis and malaria, two of the most devastating opportunistic infections, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Making It Work provides links to relevant Web sites on these topics.