Treatment exists for many common opportunistic infections.
Many physicians prescribe a prophylactic drug regimen to prevent PCP when their patients' helper T-cell counts fall to a certain level, regardless of the patient's physical condition. Another strategy is to attack HIV itself. Side effects, not taking the medication consistently and cost have limited the success of drug treatment. However, HIV-infected people are living longer lives and feeling better as a result of the drug therapy. Antiretroviral drugs prevent the virus from reproducing and thus decrease the amount of virus in the body.