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How HIV Works in Your Body

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HIV makes copies if you miss doses


  • As the anti-HIV medications work to stop the virus from making more copies of itself, the amount of HIV in the blood (viral load) drops dramatically.
  • If you miss a dose of your NRTI or NNRTI, HIV can enter some new CD4 cells.
    Make my day! Miss all the doses you want.
  • If you miss a dose of your PI, then HIV can make good copies of itself to attack more cells.
  • Although missing a single dose is not a disaster, the more you miss, the more HIV will copy itself in you.


Stay on anti-HIV medications to keep down viral load


  • Your medicines are working if the amount of virus in your blood goes down and remains low.
  • "Undetectable" means that the number of HIV copies in the blood is so low that it cannot be measured by blood tests, but does not mean the virus is gone.
  • That's why staying on anti-HIV medicines can help you live a longer, healthier life.
By taking your HIV medication you help to ensure that viral load goes down.







Used with permission of GlaxoSmithKline.
GlaxoSmithKline
All rights reserved.

  
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