Relay’s Co-Editor-in-Chief Dr. Marianne Harris reviews some of the major news stories of 2008.

Hit hard, hit early

The big news of the year on the HIV front is the swing in the “when to start treatment” pendulum back to “hit hard, hit early.” The consensus is now that treatment should be started when CD4 cell counts fall below 350 cells/mm3, not 200 as previously recommended.

New drug class for resistant virus

Another important development is the availability of raltegravir (Isentress®), the first agent in a new class of drugs called integrase inhibitors.