The surge in HIV resistance is worrying

antiretroviral drugs can prevent HIV from replicating in the body.World Health Organization (WHO) officials have found a surprising surge in resistance to key HIV drugs.
WHO survey shows that in the past four years, AIDS patients in 12 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas have become more resistant to the two drugs that make up the backbone of HIV treatment, veren and neviralpine, according to the law.
people living with HIV usually receive cocktail therapy, or antiretroviral therapy, but some viruses mutate into a drug-resistant virus.
WHO surveyed randomly selected clinics in 18 countries between 2014 and 2018 and examined resistance levels of people who began receiving HIV treatment during that time.
found that more than 10 percent of adults in 12 of those countries had developed resistance to the drugs. If this threshold is exceeded, it is not safe to give other patients the same anti-HIV drugs, as resistance may increase. The researchers reported the findings in a WHO report in July.
. Masimo Ghidinelli, an infectious disease expert at the U.S. Health Organization in Washington, D.C., said, "I think resistance to some drugs is over the threshold." Overall
, 12 per cent of the women surveyed were infected with drug-resistant HIV, while only 8 per cent of the men involved were infected.
particular concern is the high level of drug resistance among HIV-infected infants in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report. Between 2012 and 2018, about half of newly diagnosed infants in nine countries in the region were infected with an HIV virus that is legally resistant to Veren and/or nevelapin.
, an infectious disease physician at THE WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the authors of the report, said the causes of drug resistance remain elusive. But she says drug-resistant HIV can develop when people interrupt treatment.
, for example, many women with the virus may have taken antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy to prevent infection in their babies, but stopped taking them after giving birth. The WHO did not recommend the drug for life to pregnant and lactating women until 2015.
those who re-used legal veren and nevelapin after treatment were interrupted, drug resistance development (21 percent) was much higher than in first-time users (8 percent).
people living with HIV may stop taking their medication for several reasons. Bertagnolio says stigma can make a big difference, and they may not want to be seen taking drugs. The report notes that shortages of medicines in clinics may also be a cause.
response to this evidence, the WHO recommends that countries use Dorudgrave as the drug of choice for the treatment of HIV, which is more effective and toy-resistant than other treatments.
Paredes, an infectious disease specialist at the University Hospital of Trias Puyol in Barcelona, Spain, says Dorudgrave is less likely to mutate and eventually become resistant than other antiretroviral drugs. He added: "We must encourage a global transition to Dorudgrave. Bertagnolio
s official, agrees, but he calls for caution. Resistance may occur if the drug is not available adequately or comprehensively. "We don't want to end up in the same situation again." He said. (Source: Feng Weiwei, China Science Journal)
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