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Treatment in asymptomatic individuals may speed up the development of deadlier virus strains

Even as researchers creep closer toeliminating the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)in some patients via intense multi-drug therapies and early treatment, researchers at theUniversity of Southern Californiawarn that the responsible treatment may give rise to new killer strains that resist drugs.

The USC study hits close to home as the Los Angeles county targetsmen who have sex with men (MSM) -- a high-risk group for HIV/AIDS -- with a so-called "test and treat" strategy. The strategy pushes foruniversal testing-- particularly between MSM and other high-risk groups. It calls forearly retroviral drug treatmentin individuals who test HIV positive.

The approach has thus far lowered the death rates and decreased the number of cases.

The USC researchers dug into data on MSM infections, which account for 82 percent of total known HIV infections nationwide. Using data from theCenters for Disease Control, internal data, and knowledge of drug resistance, the researchers modeled the occurrence of drug resistant viral strains if the "test and treat" strategy was aggressively followed over the next several years.

The study suggests that the rates ofmultiple-drug-resistantHIV (MDR) could jump from 4.79 percent to 9.06 percent.

USC ProfessorNeeraj Sood, who was a lead author on the study, suggests that much of the benefit comes from the knowledge of infection status. Hecomments, "Were not saying that testing everybody and treating everybody is bad. All were saying is that you should proceed with caution and closely monitor the prevalence of multi-drug-resistant HIV as you scale up the test and treat model. Prior studies show a dramatic reduction inrisk-taking behaviorby individuals once they know their HIV-positive status."

The research was funded by theEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Healthand Human Developmentandpublishedin an edition of this month'sClinical Infectious Diseasesjournal.

Sources: USC [press release], Clinical Infectious Diseases [abstract]

See the article here:
Study: Early HIV Drug Treatment May Lead to Drug-Resistant Strains