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Ask Dr. Kaiser Question: I am a 22 yr old male and just found out I am HIV(+). My blood work is not back yet, so I cannot provide you with my viral load or CD4 count. My question is related to my recent outbreak of genital herpes, they seem to be very frequent. Do you have any suggestions?Dr. Kaiser replies: You raise an important question. The first point to the answer is that any additional infections that your immune system is forced to battle (such as genital herpes) can put additional stress on it and potentially lead to increased HIV activity (higher viral loads). The second point is that any additional infections which stimulate your immune system can lead to a process known as "immune system activation". This process also causes increased HIV activity and can result in higher HIV viral loads. Finally, studies have been done in patients who are coinfected with both herpes and HIV which show that, unless the herpes infection is completely suppressed over the long term with medication such as acyclovir or Valtrex, it will cause your HIV viral load to be more difficult to control. Therefore, in my practice, I always treat chronic genital herpes outbreaks in HIV(+) patients with long term suppressive therapy either with acyclovir 400-800 mg 2x/day, or Valtrex 500-1000mg once per day. Your personal physician should be consulted to see which of these treatments and dosages is most appropriate for your individual situation. Thanks for your question. Check out our Message Board! |
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