Controlling viral load does not necessarily result in decreases in drug-resistant virus, study shows Options

[Root Admin]

Controlling viral load does not necessarily result in decreases in drug-resistant virus, study shows

Data from a recent analysis presented at the 7th European HIV Drug Resistance Workshop, held in Stockholm last month, suggests that while such factors as advances in antiretroviral therapy may have resulted in decreased viral loads among people living with HIV, the transmission of drug-resistant virus has persisted.

Researchers in Milan analyzed the viral loads of 4,615 people living with HIV (referred to as potential HIV transmitters) presenting for treatment in five different time periods, as well as viral loads from 369 newly diagnosed people, including 103 with a known recent date of seroconversion.

During the five study periods, the proportion of people with a viral load below 1000 or 50 copies increased significantly. Although the transmission of drug-resistant virus decreased over three of the study periods in both newly diagnosed individuals and recent seroconverters, the declines were not considered to be statistically significant.

The researchers point out that among the people infected with drug-resistant virus in these three study periods, 64.4% of those newly diagnosed and 83.3% of the recent seroconverters were gay men.

This analysis suggests that controlling HIV at the population level does not necessarily translate into significant declines in transmission of drug-resistant virus, critical information for those involved in both the prevention and treatment of HIV.