[procaare] British HIV Patients show Increasing Drug Resistance

["Reuters" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

British HIV patients show increasing drug resistance
Reuters: Thu Nov 17, 7:07 PM ET
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LONDON (Reuters) - People infected with the HIV virus in Britain have
one of the highest levels of drug resistance in the world, and the rate
is increasing, researchers said on Friday.

The trend suggests a wave of infections from a drug resistant strain of
the virus may be on the way, they said in a study published in the
British Medical Journal.

The report by the UK Group on Transmitted HIV Drug Resistance warned
that the reduction in effective drugs to treat patients represented "a
major clinical and public health problem."

Their research was based on 2,357 HIV positive patients between 1996 and
2003.

They found that 335 patients showed some degree of resistance to one or
more of the antiretroviral drugs used to fight the HIV virus, which can
lead to AIDS.

Most, 257 of them, were resistant to drugs in one class only, 44 were
resistant to drugs within two classes and 34 were resistant to drugs in
the three most commonly used drug classes.

The study said this was equivalent to a 14 percent rate of resistance
over the whole time period, rising to 19 percent for the most recent
year of the study, 2002-3.

This is higher than in other industrialized countries.

Drug resistance is estimated at 7 percent among chronically infected HIV
patients in the United States, with a 6 percent resistance in France and
10 percent elsewhere in Europe. 

Source: Reuters via Yahoo news
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051118/hl_nm/britain_hiv_dc