People who have been taking anti-HIV treatment and have long-term infection may wish to take breaks from treatment for several reasons. These include the relief of side-effects, to stimulate the return of drug-sensitive virus, to have a break from taking treatment every day or to re-stimulate the immune system by allowing viral loads to rise. Structured treatment interruptions are breaks from antiretroviral therapy that may be open-ended or be of pre-determined duration. Recent studies have also been looking at guiding intermittent therapy using CD4 cell count.

Despite the predicted benefits of HIV treatment interruptions, there are a number of risks involved in stopping treatment, some of which can be serious. In addition to rises in viral load and falls in CD4 cell count, recent studies have shown that some treatment interruption strategies put patients at a high risk of disease progression or death. Consequently, they cannot be recommended outside the setting of clinical trials until the results of further research are published.

Patients may also wish to interrupt treatment for other reasons, including having surgery or travelling to regions where they cannot take their anti-HIV medication. Patients are advised to consult their HIV doctor before deciding to stop treatment, to agree upon the safest strategy.