Clinical aspects of HIV and AIDS

The main messages from the Conference this year were that our management of opportunistic infections is improving with increasing therapeutic options available and better guidelines as to when to start treatment and prophylaxis. Since the first cases of the epidemic were reported in 1981 new drugs have been licensed, e.g. ganciclovir, fluxconazole and inhaled pentamidine. These have been developed, stimulated by the need for new agents to treat the increasing number of unusual infections. While the range of infections may not now be increasing so fast, the search for more effective, less toxic, agents continues.