An audit on virological efficacy of anti-retroviral therapy in a specialist infectious disease clinic.
We have assessed the efficacy of anti retroviral therapy (ART) using undetectable viral load (VL) (/ml) as a marker of virological success, in patients who have Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) attending the Department of Infectious Disease. A cross-sectional review of patients' case notes was used to obtain their demographics and treatment details. 79% (253) of the hospital case notes of clinic population was available for analysis, which represents 90% of those receiving ART in the clinic. 166/253 of the cohort were receiving treatment at the time of this study and 95% (157/166) of these were on treatment for greater than 6 months. The total virological success rate is 93%, which is comparable to other centres and are as good as those from published clinical trials. 56% of those on therapy who have virological failure were Intravenous Drug Users (IVDUs). Case by case investigation for those with treatment failure is warranted.
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The original article is available at www.imj.iePublished Citation
Reyad A, Waldron C, Canning R, O'Shea D, Coakley P, McConkey S. An audit on virological efficacy of anti-retroviral therapy in a specialist infectious disease clinic. Irish Medical Journal. 2009;102(6):186-8.Publication Date
2009-06-01PubMed ID
19722358Department/Unit
- Beaumont Hospital
- International Health and Tropical Medicine
- Undergraduate Research