[7th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections].

Virtually every clinician and every medical facility have witnessed the decreased rate of AIDSdefining opportunistic infections that has resulted from the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and from the widespread use of opportunistic infection prophylaxis. AIDSdefining opportunistic infections continue to occur, both in individuals under intense medical supervision and in individuals not under care. However, over the past few years, newly appreciated processes have been supplanting AIDS-defining opportunistic infections as the major causes of morbidity and mortality. This development has been recognized by the inclusion of hepatitis C and hepatitis B among the diseases covered by the 1999 US Public Health Service (USPHS) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Guidelines for the Prevention of Opportunistic Infections in Persons Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Several studies presented at the 8th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections looked at these recent trends.