HAART is the acronym for “highly active antiretroviral therapy” used to treat HIV infection.
With advances in drug development, this can be accomplished with as few as two antiretroviral drugs.
Thus, the era of HAART was born.
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Can Antiretrovirals Cure HIV?
Antiretrovirals do not kill HIV; rather, they stop HIV from making copies of itself.
The drugs are also unable to"cure" HIVbecause they only target viruses in the blood.
In addition to circulating HIV, there are also viruses embedded in tissues throughout the body.
million people living with HIVin the United States.
Based on the results, your provider can tell which drugs you are more or less susceptible to.
If an HIV treatment ever fails, genotyping will guide the selection of the next drugs you are given.
How Long Does It Take for HAART to Work?
The goal of HAART is to make your viral load undetectable.
It also depends on your ability to adhere to daily treatment.
This includes drug-resistant mutants that have the ability to multiply and even predominate if adherence is not corrected.
Summary
HAART stands for “highly active antiretroviral therapy.”
It involves a combination of two or more antiretroviral drugs that are able to suppress HIV to undetectable levels.
Today, HAART is known simply as antiretroviral therapy.
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