A new study warns of a potential return to the bad
old days when there were no effective drugs to fight
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Timed for release
on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, the new study looked at
data on more than 56,000 adults living with HIV in
sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. In
total, patients in 63 low- and middle-income
countries were screened, and all began or restarted
treatment with antiretroviral drugs between 1996 and
2016. The study found that the virus is gaining
resistance to the lifesaving medicines. Resistance
to the drugs increased between 2001 and 2016 and is
approaching and exceeding 10 percent of people
tested. Drug resistance was increasing fastest in
countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. If the
trend continues, the researchers warned, even a
resistance rate of 10 percent or more would mean
890,000 more deaths from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
by 2030, along with 450,000 new infections. Patients
with drug resistance were more likely to have
previously taken antiretroviral drugs, often during
pregnancy, said by lead researcher. Treatments for
HIV have improved immensely in recent years, and
close to 21 million people worldwide are now being
treated with antiretroviral therapy. Yet to end the
AIDS epidemic as a public health threat, minimizing
drug resistance will be one part of the response.
Many people develop drug resistance after being
treated by antiretroviral drugs if they stop taking
their medication often due to personal reasons,
difficulty accessing treatment providers, or drug
supply issues that are common in low-income regions.
When these individuals restart treatment at a later
date, they are less likely to respond to therapy and
may pass on the drug-resistant strains to other
people. |