Fosamprenavir is used for treating HIV and AIDS in adults and children as young as two years old. The medication can help prevent HIV from multiplying in the body, but it is not a cure for the virus. While fosamprenavir uses are primarily focused on the treatment of HIV or AIDS, the drug can also be used off-label as a type of postexposure prophylaxis.

What Is Fosamprenavir Used For? -- An Overview

Fosamprenavir calcium (Lexiva^®) is a prescription medication approved to treat HIV and AIDS. It belongs to a group of HIV medications known as protease inhibitors.

 

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was initially reported in the United States in 1981. Since then, it has become a significant worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). At first, an HIV infection usually does not cause any obvious symptoms (see HIV Symptoms), and most people have no idea that they have been infected with the virus, unless they happen to be tested for it. However, by killing or damaging cells of the immune system, HIV will eventually begin to progressively destroy the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers (see AIDS Symptoms).

 

HIV is commonly spread through sexual contact with an infected partner. Transmission also happens through contact with infected blood, which frequently occurs among IV drug users (who share needles or syringes contaminated with blood from someone infected with the virus). Women with HIV can transmit the virus to their babies during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.

 

Fosamprenavir is almost always used as part of an HIV "cocktail." These cocktails usually consist of three or four (or sometimes five) different HIV medications (technically known as highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART). Using combinations of medications helps to prevent the virus from becoming resistant to one or more of the drugs. People who have taken a protease inhibitor in the past should take ritonavir (Norvir^®) in combination with fosamprenavir. Ritonavir increases the level of fosamprenavir in the blood, usually making it more effective. Even people who have not taken a protease inhibitor before can combine fosamprenavir with ritonavir, although this is not always necessary.