[Antiviral treatment of HIV infection]

During the past six years Zidovudine has been the main antiviral drug directed against HIV. The indications for its use have slowly been extended and a reduced dose has limited the side effects. The therapeutical gain is a survival benefit of three to nine months. Other nucleoside analogues such as didanosin and zalcitabin have shown antiviral efficacy but the side effects are different from those of zidovudine. A number of drugs, including protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors have shown antiviral effects, and are being tested in clinical trials. As no single drug appears to be able to control HIV for an extended period of time, combination regimens including multiple drugs, often administered early in the course of infection, seem to be a promising approaches, which are being pursued in a number of clinical trials.