ET - ISSUE 2170 Friday 4 May 2001

Aids virus becoming resistant to drugs

RESEARCH shows that the Aids virus is rapidly becoming resistant to life-saving drugs.

As many as 27 per cent of people acquiring HIV are now being infected with a resistant form of the virus, according to the Public Health Laboratory Service. The findings have alarmed campaigners, who said they reinforced the need not to become complacent about HIV and Aids.

Derek Bodell, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: "This new research underlines the fact that we do not yet have a cure for Aids and that HIV remains a life-threatening disease. The frightening thing is that we are now seeing more new cases than ever before in Britain, 3,000 per year."

The researchers, based in London and Birmingham, tested viruses obtained between June 1994 and August 2000 from 69 people newly-infected with HIV. They were looking for one or more key viral mutations associated with drug resistance.

They detected resistance in 10 of the patients. In two cases, resistance against two of the three available classes of therapeutic drugs was identified. The chance of being infected with a drug-resistant virus increased over time. By last year, the estimated prevalence of drug-resistant infections had reached 27 per cent.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the scientists, led by Dr Deenan Pillay, say: "New approaches to encourage safer sexual behaviour are urgently needed."

The researchers believe the trend to drug resistance might be linked to the frequent use of highly active antiretroviral therapy. In addition, as unprotected sex among those at high risk increased, the likelihood of being infected by a person who has taken antiretroviral drugs also increased.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2001