The dermatologist and the HIV/AIDS pandemic

The clinical course of HIV disease has changed dramatically over the last 30 years due to insights into the disease pathogenesis, provided by basic biomedical research, and due to the boost of antiretroviral drugs that are able to break the vicious circle of viral propagation and damage to the immune system. Dermatologists were pivotal in the identification of the then new disease in the early 1980s, and continue to play an important role in identifying sentinel skin and mucous membrane conditions associated with HIV-1 disease, diagnosing and treating side effects of antiretroviral drug therapies, and helping to curb the spread of HIV by control of other sexually transmitted infections.