Enter “AIDS” into Google and you find an impressive49 500 000 links. A nice beginners' site is www.aids.org. The site has a user friendly interface and a comprehensive knowledge base, including 123 fact sheets about HIV and AIDS, often asked questions, and updates on AIDS related global happenings. It is a great resource for hard facts on a particular aspect of AIDS. There is a noteworthy list of drugs, with each fact sheet outlining the type of drug, its target population, side effects, signs of resistance, and potential interactions. The straightforward language also makes this an excellent resource for patients. When describing the risk of transmission through kissing, the site interestingly differentiates between “closed mouth/social kissing” and “open mouth/wet/French kissing.” The risk is obviously extremely low and only one case of transmission via open mouth kissing has been documented, in which both partners had extensive dental problems and blood contact was involved.

On the other hand, www.thebody.com provides a more holistic, patient centred perspective on AIDS. This site underlines that AIDS affects a person's life and not only his or her physiology. Under “Just Diagnosed,” you can learn about financial and legal hardships, read inspiring stories and tips on how to endure treatment, and find out about the various support networks that are available to patients worldwide. Some links also feature purple boxes entitled “Read first!” The one under “HIV Treatment & Women” includes comments from practitioners and HIV positive women about what they felt are important issues to women living with AIDS, and also an article on women's health rights.

If you are looking for information on treatment as a healthcare provider, try http://aidsinfo.nih.gov. AIDSinfo is a US Department of Health and Human Service project, which also provides information on clinical trials. A useful feature is an extensive list of patient guidelines as pdfs. These are subdivided according to age group and cover everything from HIV testing and complications to recommendations for patients with renal insufficiency and clinical data relevant to the use of antiretroviral treatment in pregnancy. For all drugs mentioned, you will find links to therelevant websites, and, for some of them, news updates based on results from recent clinical trials.

ERIC MILLER/WHO

Last but not least, don't forget about Ovid Medline and its wealth of review articles and randomised controlled trials.

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