A number of treatments have been tested for the treatment of aspergillosis, although not all of these treatments have been studied in patients with AIDS-related aspergillosis.
The preferred treatment for aspergillosis is voriconazole (Vfend), a medication that is administered through an intravenous (IV) line for at least a week. Because of negative drug interactions, voriconazole should be prescribed with caution if protease inhibitors or the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor efavirenz (found in Sustiva, Stocrin and Atripla) is being used to treat HIV.
An alternative to voriconazole is intravenous liposomal amphotericin B (Ambisome, Amphotec or Abelcet). Caspofungin (Cancidas), also administered intravenously, is approved for the treatment of aspergillosis in patients who do not successfully respond to either voriconazole or amphotericin B.
Other alternatives include micafungin (Mycamine), anidulafungin (Eraxis) and posaconazole (Noxafil).
Aspergillosis should be treated until the patient feels better and the CD4 count is above 200 cells.
A syndrome—called immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS)—where antiretroviral treatment can actually exacerbate the symptoms of an opportunistic infection due to a strengthened immune response, has not been reported with Aspergillosis.
Search for news stories about this topic
