The Evolution of AIDS Treatment

Treatment options were scarce when the AIDS epidemic began in 1984, but several treatment options have been developed since then. The original treatments developed for HIV are still in use, and new options are still being investigated.

Beginning of the Epidemic

• The first confirmed death due to what is now known as AIDS occurred in 1981. Cases were discovered in New York and California, and the disease was officially recognized by 1984. No treatment options were available.

AZT

• Azidothymidine, a drug originally developed to fight cancer, was first used to fight AIDS in 1987. By 1992 it became obvious to AIDS researchers that the virus could build up a resistance to AZT.

Additional Treatments

• Antiretroviral medications such as entry inhibitors and protease inhibitors were developed between 1991 and 1994 in order to prevent viral resistance. These medications affect different parts of the virus and were used in combination with AZT to attack several parts of the HIV virus at once.

HAART

• Highly active antiretroviral treatment became available in 1995, using large doses of combined HIV drugs. Refinement of the treatment continued, with new HIV drug types such as non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors becoming available during this time.

Further Advances

• HIV research in the early 2000s allowed HAART to become more effective at slowing the replication of HIV. Five distinct classes of HIV drugs were used in combinations of two to four types at a time.

Non-ARV Treatments

• New treatment options such as gene therapy entered the experimental phase in 2008, and the first mildly successful clinical trial of an HIV vaccine occurred in 2009.