HIV Becoming Drug-Resistant; Antiretroviral Meds May No Longer Work: Study

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A new study, published in the journal of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggested that HIV is becoming resistant to antriretroviral drug.

When HIV drugs were discovered, many were pleased with its promising potential. Unfortunately, its efficiency could be short-lived because researchers found out that HIV is becoming resistant to these drugs.

UPI reported that HIV is becoming resistant to Tenofovir, a key antiretroviral drug for treating HIV and hepatitis B. Per the report, strains of the virus in Africa are more resistant to the drugs compared to strains in Europe, which raises concern about the effort of fighting the spreading of this deadly illness.

Researchers learned that the resistance was due to improper or inconsistent use.

"If the right levels of the drug are not taken, as in they are too low or not regularly maintained, the virus can overcome the drug and become resistant," said Dr. Ravi Gupta, a researcher at University College London, per BBC. "Tenofovir is a critical part of our armamentarium against HIV, so it is extremely concerning to see such a high level of resistance to this drug."

The study took four years to be completed. It started in 2012 with the researchers following 2,000 HIV patients in Africa and Europe. They learned that 60 percent of patients in Africa were resistant to Tenofovir, compared to only 20 percent of patients in Europe.

Furthermore, they learned that Tenofovir-resistant strains of HIV could be passed on from one person to another.

"We certainly cannot dismiss the possibility that resistant strains can spread between people and should not be complacent. We are now conducting further studies to get a more detailed picture of how Tenofovir-resistant viruses develop and spread," Gupta explained.

The researchers cannot predict the number of HIV individuals who developed resistance to the drug because their study only included those who failed the treatment. However, their study suggested that about eight to 18 percent sub-Saharan patients who received Tenofovir and Efavirenz developed resistance within the first year of treatment.

Reuters reported that HIV resistance is common worldwide.

"If you develop resistance to that, it's a very large loss," said Dr. Robert Shafer of Stanford University in California.

"I think that if these trends continued . . . and you found a lot of HIV infections had resistance, then you would find the efficacy of PrEP is compromised," Gupta added, referring to pre-exposure prophylaxis. This is the practice where individuals without the virus are taking the anti-HIV drug to avoid the disease.

Gupta noted that the second-line drug's availability is increasing. Unfortunately, these medications are more expensive and they tend to have more side effects.