An important step before the selection of antiretroviral treatment, or ART, is to test for transmitted resistance. According to the AIDS Education and Training Centers National Resource Center, 6-16% of patients infected with HIV will demonstrate transmitted ART resistance. Problems arise while treating patients with ART resistance due to lower treatment response rates which can negatively affect the patient's treatment outcome.
Antiretroviral treatments can improve and preserve immune function in most patients with virologic suppression. The AIDS Education and Training Centers National Resource Center describes the benefits in using such treatments which include:
- Better immunologic responses and better clinical outcomes
- Reduction in AIDS- and non-AIDS-associated morbidity and mortality
- Reduction in HIV-associated inflammation and associated complications
- Reduction in HIV transmission
- Recommended ARV combinations are considered to be durable and tolerable
