Current therapy for HIV infection and its infectious complications. A practical summary for primary care physicians.

Primary care physicians can play a crucial role in the care of patients with HIV infection. Treatment often requires orchestration of many complex drug regimens. In addition, the patient must make informed decisions about a broad range of care-related issues. Steps in the care of such patients include (1) staging of HIV infection, (2) instituting antiretroviral therapy, and (3) preventing opportunistic infections plus treating opportunistic infections when present. A wide range of established and investigational agents are available for these purposes, and new ones are continually being discovered.