Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians Managing Early HIV Infection

Abstract

This Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians contains highlights from the Clinical Practice Guideline on Evaluation and Management of Early HIV Infection, which was developed by a private‐sector panel of health care providers and consumers. Selected aspects of evaluating and managing patients, both adults and children, who are in the early stages of human immunodeficiency virus infection are presented. Topics covered include disclosure of HIV status, monitoring of CD4 lymphocyte counts, prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, initiation of antiretroviral therapy, treatment of syphilis, eye and oral care, performance of Papanicolaou smears. diagnosis of HIV infection in infants and children, preventive therapy for PCP and assessment of neurologic problems in HIV‐infected children, pregnancy counseling, and development of a comprehensive case management system. Algorithms are included that show the sequence of events related to evaluating and managing early HIV infection in adults and children, as well as drug dosing tables for antiretroviral. PCP, and M. tuberculosis therapies. This Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians contains excerpts from the Clinical Practice Guideline, but users should not rely on these excerpts alone. Clinicians should refer to the complete Clinical Practice Guideline for more detailed analysis and discussion of the available research, critical evaluation of the assumptions and knowledge of the field, health care decision making, and references.