HIV drug resistance

HIV drug resistance occurs when microevolution causes virions to become tolerant to antiretroviral treatments (ART). ART can be used to successfully manage HIV infection, but a number of factors can contribute to the virus mutating and becoming resistant. Drug resistance occurs as bacterial or viral populations evolve to no longer respond to medications that previously worked. In the case of HIV, there have been recognized cases of treatment resistant strains since 1989, with drug resistance being a major contributor to treatment failure.[1] While global incidence varies greatly from region to region, there has been a general increase in overall HIV drug resistance. The two main types of resistance, primary and induced, differ mostly in causation, with the biggest cause of resistance being a lack of adherence to the specific details of treatment. These newly created resistant strains of HIV pose a public health issue as they infect a growing number of people because they are harder to treat, and can be spread to other individuals.[2] For this reason, the reaction to the growing number of cases of resistant HIV strains has mostly been to try to increase access to treatment and implement other measures to make sure people stay in care, as well as to look into the development of an HIV vaccine or cure.[3][4]

  1. ^ Larder B (2001). "Mechanisms of HIV-1 drug resistance". AIDS. 15 Suppl 5: S27–34. doi:10.1097/00002030-200100005-00005. PMID 11816171.
  2. ^ "HIV and drug resistance". unaids.org. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  3. ^ HIV drug resistance report 2017. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
  4. ^ "Antiretroviral Drug Discovery and Development". National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Retrieved 25 October 2018.