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Discontinuing prophylaxis for opportunistic infection: guiding principles
1Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. jscurrier@mednet.ucla.edu.
Summary
Patients on potent combination antiretroviral therapy may not need continued prophylaxis for opportunistic infections. This review examines factors for safely discontinuing prophylaxis, focusing on infection risk prediction.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Immunology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) significantly reduces opportunistic infections (OIs) in HIV patients.
- The effectiveness of ART raises questions about the necessity of continued OI prophylaxis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current data on predicting OI risk.
- To evaluate factors influencing the decision to discontinue OI prophylaxis in ART recipients.
Main Methods:
- Review of observational studies on OI incidence in ART recipients.
- Analysis of factors relevant to discontinuing prophylaxis.
Main Results:
- ART reduces OI risk, but specific risk factors for OIs persist.
- Key considerations for discontinuing prophylaxis include OI risk, infection consequences, prophylaxis toxicity, drug interactions, psychological benefits, resistance risk, and cost.
Conclusions:
- Discontinuing OI prophylaxis requires careful assessment of individual patient risk.
- Further research is needed to refine risk prediction models for OIs in the context of ART.