Prognosis is poorer as patients progress to more advanced clinical categories.
For example, development of new opportunistic infections, particularly in patients who had severe immunosuppression at the time therapy was initiated, may not reflect a failure of antiretroviral therapy but persistence of immunologic dysfunction despite adequate antiviral response. Thus, in patients whose disease progression is not associated with neurologic deterioration or growth failure, virologic and immunologic parameters should be considered when deciding whether to change therapy.