This is a picture of various pills used in treatment of HIV and AIDS. Antiretroviral therapy is the main type of treatment for HIV or AIDS. It is not a cure, but it can stop people from becoming ill for many years. The treatment consists of drugs that have to be taken every day for the rest of someone's life. HIV is a virus and like other viruses when it is in a cell in the body it produces new copies of itself. With these new copies, HIV can go and infect other previously healthy cells. It is easy for HIV to spread quickly through the billions of cells in the body, if it is not stopped from reproducing itself. Antiretroviral treatment for HIV infection consists of drugs, which work against HIV infection itself by slowing down the reproduction of HIV in the body. The drugs are often referred as: antiretrovirals, anti-HIV drugs or HIV antiviral drugs. More about the treatment of HIV and AIDS can be found at http://www.avert.org/trans.htm

This photo is part of a larger HIV and AIDS picture gallery. For more HIV and AIDS photos visit http://www.avert.org/historyi.htm

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Photo credit: � NIAID