Interesting slant
Jul. 16th, 2003 04:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheAIDS Study Finds Drug-Resistant Strain
About 10 percent of Europeans infected with HIV contract a strain of the virus that is resistant to at least one AIDS drug, according to the first large-scale study of the problem.
Scientists have known that HIV can become resistant to drugs and that resistant strains can be spread, but the extent of the transmission has not been clear.
Resistance, which is mainly caused by patients not taking medications properly, is a problem because it makes the disease more difficult to treat.
[...] [Dr. Peter] Piot, who was not involved with the research, said the extent of resistance was not surprising, but it serves as a warning that the delivery of drugs in poor countries needs to be done carefully.
"It reminds us that when we introduce antiretroviral therapy we've got to do it well," he said, adding that a universally followed standard prescription for initial treatment should be part of the strategy.
Kevin Frost, director of Treat Asia, a program of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, said the results show the world is at a crucial point with AIDS treatment.
"We are in a somewhat volatile period right now and the therapeutic anarchy that is going on — we have to get a handle on it," Frost said.
"Doctors have the freedom, especially in the West, to prescribe whatever they want. There are 19 drugs approved in the United States now with 21 or 22 formulations ... It means there are hundreds, if not thousands, of potential combinations," he said.
About 10 percent of Europeans infected with HIV contract a strain of the virus that is resistant to at least one AIDS drug, according to the first large-scale study of the problem.
Scientists have known that HIV can become resistant to drugs and that resistant strains can be spread, but the extent of the transmission has not been clear.
Resistance, which is mainly caused by patients not taking medications properly, is a problem because it makes the disease more difficult to treat.
[...] [Dr. Peter] Piot, who was not involved with the research, said the extent of resistance was not surprising, but it serves as a warning that the delivery of drugs in poor countries needs to be done carefully.
"It reminds us that when we introduce antiretroviral therapy we've got to do it well," he said, adding that a universally followed standard prescription for initial treatment should be part of the strategy.
Kevin Frost, director of Treat Asia, a program of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, said the results show the world is at a crucial point with AIDS treatment.
"We are in a somewhat volatile period right now and the therapeutic anarchy that is going on — we have to get a handle on it," Frost said.
"Doctors have the freedom, especially in the West, to prescribe whatever they want. There are 19 drugs approved in the United States now with 21 or 22 formulations ... It means there are hundreds, if not thousands, of potential combinations," he said.