[AIDS: nursing care, new perspectives]

To revise the recent changes which have occurred in the diagnosis of, clinical stay for, and treatment of AIDS and their repercussions in nursing care. 1997 was characterized by the clear dominance of new advances in combined therapy using antiretorvirus drugs, by the possibility to measure the degree and number of the virus infection, and an improved knowledge of the dynamics and variability of the AIDS virus. Infected persons' quality of life can benefit from nursing care to check the gradual physical, cognitive and emotional deterioration patients continue to suffer from, in spite of the tenuous hope which new scientific discoveries and advances have introduced and which are very slowly becoming a part of treatment programs.

MEDLINE data base studies published between 1990 and 1996, regular "SEISIDA" publications; summaries from the XIth International AIDS Conference held in Vancouver in July 1996; reports published by the Centers for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (CDC); and articles published or pending publication written by the authors.

Selection of original articles published from 1990 to 1996 on the MEDLINE data base dealing with nursing treatment for patients infected by HIV in hospital, community center or homecare service units.