How does HIV become drug resistant?

How does HIV become drug resistant?

Acquired HIV drug resistance can happen when a person has HIV that is replicating (making copies of itself), but is also taking a particular antiretroviral medication. HIV can mutate “around” that medication. This will result in HIV being resistant to the medications and those medications now being ineffective.

What is drug resistance mean in HIV?

In simple terms, drug resistance refers to the ability of disease-causing germs—such as bacteria and viruses—to continue multiplying despite the presence of drugs that usually kill them. With HIV, drug resistance is caused by changes (mutations) in the virus’s genetic structure.

Why is resistance such a problem with HIV?

HIV drug resistance poses an issue because it reduces the possible HIV medications a person can take due to cross resistance. In cross resistance, an entire class of medication is considered ineffective in lowering a patient’s HIV viral load because all the drugs in a given class share the same mechanism of action.

How do I know if antiretroviral therapy is working?

Routine Blood Testing for Effective HIV Treatment Your treatment regimen is considered effective if it’s able to control HIV to the point that the virus is virtually undetectable in your body. The virus is still present, but the viral load level is low enough that HIV is considered controlled.

How can we fight antibiotic resistance?

To help fight antibiotic resistance and protect yourself against infection:

1. Don’t take antibiotics unless you’re certain you need them. An estimated 30% of the millions of prescriptions written each year are not needed.
2. Finish your pills.
3. Get vaccinated.
4. Stay safe in the hospital.

How does resistance to integrase inhibitors affect HIV?

These resistance mutations affect the binding of the drug to the active site of protease by changing the association and dissociation constants so that protease becomes available for proteolytic action in the presence of the drug. Integrase Inhibitors are a new class of drugs which target the HIV enzyme integrase.

How are antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV?

Mechanisms of HIV antiretroviral drug action and drug resistance. The NRTI class of antiretroviral drugs are chemical compounds that are nucleotide base analogues. They function as chain-terminators during the extension of the DNA chain during the reverse transcription process which is carried out by HIV reverse transcriptase.

How is minimizing the spread of HIV drug resistance important?

Minimizing the spread of HIV drug resistance is a critical aspect of the broader global response to antimicrobial resistance that needs coordinated action across all government sectors and levels of society.

How did the treatment of HIV 1 change?

The treatment of HIV-1 infection was revolutionized in the mid-1990s by the development of inhibitors of the reverse transcriptase and protease, two of three essential enzymes of HIV-1, and the introduction of drug regimens that combined these agents to enhance the overall efficacy and durability of therapy.