Dawaa Reference

chronic

HIV infection (asymptomatic)

Treatment options, dosing, cautions and Egyptian brands from the shipped Dawaa Reference card.

Evidence status

Checked against the sources named below

Sources4 sources

HIV and AIDS - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (NBK534860) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534860/ · ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class BD03 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Swinkels HM, Nguyen AD, Samandari T, Gulick PG. HIV and AIDS. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2026 Jan-. Last Update: January 14, 2026.

Verified against1 document
  • No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified date2026-08

Presentation reference

Is it this?

Reference only, to read alongside your own examination.

Tests (5)

  • This card is about HIV-2. Because early HIV-2 disease can be subtle, test on a low threshold when the patient has epidemiologic risk factors
  • Diagnosis relies on fourth-generation antigen-antibody testing that includes a step telling HIV-1 and HIV-2 apart
  • Red flag: viral load cannot exclude HIV-2, because up to 40% of untreated HIV-2 patients have no detectable virus. This does not apply to HIV-1
  • Genetic and phenotypic drug-resistance testing for HIV-2 is not validated or available for clinical use in the US. It IS available for HIV-1
  • Dual infection with HIV-1 should be excluded early during initial laboratory work-up

SourceStatPearls "HIV-2 Infection" - disease-level clinical article

Presentation findings are traced to the source above.

1

NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (REFERRAL & ADVICE)

1st line
Adult dose and duration

HIV care in Egypt is centralised at designated specialist/MOH treatment centres; the GP's role is confirming the result, counselling on transmission prevention and partner testing, and referring for ART initiation and follow-up, not prescribing ART directly. - Refer, with advice

Paediatric dose

Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.

Dose source

No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Why

HIV care in Egypt is centralised at designated specialist/MOH treatment centres; the GP's role is confirming the result, counselling on transmission prevention and partner testing, and referring for ART initiation and follow-up, not prescribing ART directly.

Cautions
  • No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.
  • RED FLAG - All patients diagnosed with HIV should be started on ART as soon as possible after diagnosis.
  • RED FLAG - HIV-2 has intrinsic drug resistance to all non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), rendering them ineffective.
  • RED FLAG - Pregnancy (urgent referral to prevent mother-to-child transmission), recent high-risk exposure needing post-exposure prophylaxis assessment, or any new symptoms suggesting progression to symptomatic disease.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.