Therapeutic
Effects
Effects
This is the primary therapeutic goal of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) for patients with HIV, which is achieved by using a combination of drugs to attack the virus at different life cycle stages.
What is reducing the viral load?
This is a universal contraindication for any antiviral or antiprotozoal medication.
What is a known allergy to the drug?
When providing patient teaching for antimalarials, the nurse should emphasize doing this even if they begin to feel better.
What is the complete course of the drug?
Before beginning antiprotozoal therapy, the nurse should arrange for these two diagnostic actions to ensure the correct medication is used.
What are culture and sensitivity tests?
This is the acronym for the treatment approach involving multiple types of antiretroviral drugs to reduce mutations and resistance.
What is ART (Antiretroviral Therapy)?
When evaluating a patient treated for Malaria, the nurse would expect to see a resolution of these physical symptoms related to RBC destruction and liver toxicity.
What are fever (chills/sweating) and jaundice (yellowing of skin/eyes)?
Chloroquine and other antimalarials are used cautiously in patients with this type of dysfunction because the drugs can accumulate and cause toxicity.
What is liver (hepatic) dysfunction?
A nurse should perform these two specific physical exams periodically for a patient on long-term antimalarial therapy to monitor for drug toxicity.
What are ophthalmological (vision) and auditory (hearing) exams?
Patients taking Metronidazole or other antiprotozoal drugs should be strictly warned to avoid this substance.
What is alcohol?
This class of HIV drugs, including Maraviroc, carries a Black Box Warning for severe hepatotoxicity.
What are CCR5 Coreceptor Antagonists?
For a patient using locally active antivirals for Herpes Simplex (cold sores), the nurse expects to see this change in the character of the lesions.
What is a decrease in the size and number of lesions?
This severe metabolic condition, characterized by a buildup of acid in the bloodstream, is a potential adverse effect of most anti-Hepatitis B medications.
What is lactic acidosis?
This syndrome, characterized by ringing in the ears, headache, nausea, and vision changes, is a risk for patients taking Quinine.
What is Cinchonism?
This specific age group is expected to have more severe reactions to these drugs, and many antivirals have no proven safety record for them.
What are children?
These drugs, which usually end in the suffix "-navir," prevent the maturation of viral cells by blocking specific enzyme activity.
What are Protease Inhibitors?
When evaluating the effectiveness of agents for CMV (Cytomegalovirus), especially Ganciclovir, the nurse would expect the patient to report an improvement in this specific sensory function.
What is vision? (CMV commonly affects the eyes/retina).
This is the primary therapeutic goal of administering anti-Hepatitis C agents: to prevent this specific type of long-term organ damage.
What is liver damage (or cirrhosis/liver failure)?
During the evaluation phase, the nurse determines the antimalarial was effective if the patient has a resolution of infection and this specific lab result.
What is a negative plasmodium culture?
For a patient using locally active antiviral agents for cold sores, the nurse should instruct the patient to stop using the drug if thisspecific condition occurs at the site of administration.
What are a severe local reaction?
This class of drugs, which includes Nevirapine, works by binding directly to HIV reverse transcriptase, preventing the transfer of information to DNA.
What are Nonnucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)?
For a patient with HIV on ART (Antiretroviral Therapy), a key physical finding indicating therapeutic success is the absence of these types of opportunistic infections.
What are superinfections (thrush, CMV, or PCP pneumonia)?
When evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching plan for a patient on locally active antivirals, the patient should be able to state that the drug provides this, rather than a "cure."
What is alleviation of signs and symptoms?
A patient is planning to travel to an area where malaria in endemic, the nurse should advise this kind of treatment prior to the patient traveling.
What is prophylactic treatment?
When administering respiratory antivirals, the nurse must instruct the patient that the drug should be started within this specific timeframe of the onset of symptoms.
What is within 48 hours?
Patients taking Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs) like Zidovudine should be specifically monitored for this serious adverse effect that can be detected with a CBC.
What is severe bone marrow suppression?