HIV/AIDS Medication 14/5/24 #1

• What are the medicines in Biktarvy?

  A mix of the following medicines: Bictegravir, Emtricitabine, and Tenofovir Alafenamide
• NO HIV MEDICINES ARE A CURE
• When taking Biktarvy


  1. Avoid taking calcium, iron and magnesium mineral supplements

  2. These could prevent your body from absorbing Biktarvy properly

  3. Making it less effective
• What Does the Biktarvy Pill Look Like?

  • Small, oval, pink pill
  • 'GSI' on one side
  • '9883' on the other
• Biktarvy can have serious, life-threatening side effects


  • Buildup of lactic acid
  • Liver problems
  • New or worsening kidney problems (kidney failure etc.)
• 'GSI' on a pill indicates that it is a HIV medicine
• Who Would Take Complera and Why?

  • Used to treat HIV in people who haven't taken HIV medicines before
  • To be used for adults and children over the age of 12
• Complera can have serious, life-threatening side effects

  • Buildup of lactic acid (lactic acidosis)
  • Severe skin rash
  • Allergic reactions
• What Medicines is Biktarvy Made Of?

  A mix of the following medicines: Bictegravir, Emtricitabine, and Tenofovir Alafenamide
• All are commonly used to treat HIV
• NO HIV MEDICINES ARE A CURE
• When taking Biktarvy


  Avoid taking calcium, iron and magnesium mineral supplements as these could prevent your body from absorbing Biktarvy properly, making it less effective
• What does Biktarvy look like?

  Small, oval, pink pill. With 'GSI' on one side and '9883' on the other
• What are the side effects of Biktarvy?

  • Can have serious, life-threatening side effects, including: buildup of lactic acid, liver problems, and new or worsening kidney problems (kidney failure ect)
• 'GSI' on a pill indicates that it is a HIV medicine
• Complera


  Used to treat HIV in people who haven't taken HIV medicines before. To be used for adults and children over the age of 12
• Complera


  • Can have serious, life-threatening side effects such as: buildup of lactic acid (lactic acidosis), severe skin rash and allergic reactions
• Antiretroviral therapy (ART)


  The treatment for HIV. Involves taking a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV treatment regimen) every day
• ART is recommended for everyone who has HIV
• People with HIV should start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible
• ART cannot cure HIV, but HIV medicines help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives
• ART reduces the risk of HIV transmission
• Undetectable viral load


  The level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. People with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex
• HIV attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells (CD4 T lymphocyte) of the immune system
• How HIV medicines work

  Prevent HIV from multiplying (making copies of itself), which reduces the amount of HIV in the body (called the viral load). Having less HIV in the body gives the immune system a chance to recover and produce more CD4 cells
• By reducing the amount of HIV in the body, HIV medicines also reduce the risk of HIV transmission
• People with HIV should start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible after an HIV diagnosis
• It is especially important for people with AIDS-defining conditions or early HIV infection to start HIV medicines right away
• Women with HIV who become pregnant and are not already taking HIV medicines should also start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible
• Medication adherence


  Taking HIV medicines every day and exactly as prescribed
• Medication adherence reduces the risk of drug resistance
• HIV medicines


  • Most side effects are manageable, but a few can be serious. Overall, the benefits far outweigh the risk of side effects. Newer HIV medicines cause fewer side effects than medicines used in the past
• HIV medicines can interact with other HIV medicines in an HIV treatment regimen or with other medicines a person is taking
• HIV medicines


  • Atripla (pink, has 123 written on one side)
  • Biktarvy (pink, has 9883 written on one side)
  • Complera (light pink, has GSI written on one side)
  • Delstrigo (yellow, has 776 written on one side)
  • Dovato (white, has SY137 written on one side)
  • Genvoya (green, has 510 written on one side)
  • Juluca (pink, has SVJ3T written on one side)
  • Odefsey (grey, has 251 written on one side)
  • Stribild (green, has 'GSI' written on one side and, [1] on the other)
  • Symfi(white, has M152 written on one side)
  • Symfi Lo (white, has 'TLE' written on one side)
  • Symtuza (yellow, has 'JG' written on one side and 8121 on the other)
  • Triumeq (light pink, has '572Tri' written on one side)
• Stages of HIV infection

  • Acute HIV infection
  • Chronic HIV infection
  • Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
• Primary Infection


  1. HIV infection of the mucosa

  2. HIV destroys T cells and attaches to dendritic cells in the submucosa

  3. Dendritic cells carry HIV virions to lymphoid tissues where it replicates

  4. HIV enters general circulation (viremia)

  5. Host's anti-viral immune system activates
• The "founder" virus begins to evolve at the end of the primary infection phase
• Acute retroviral syndrome (seroconversion illness)


  Flu-like symptoms of fever, muscle and joint pains, etc.
• Viral set point


  Reflects the balance between viral replication and host immune response, may predict rate of HIV progression
• Chronic Infection


  1. Continuous viral replication in lymph nodes and spleen

  2. Clinical latency - largely asymptomatic with continuous HIV replication outpacing production of new CD4+ T cells