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21/06/2019

What causes HIV drug resistance?

What causes HIV drug resistance?

HIV drug resistance is caused by changes in the genetic structure of HIV that affect the ability of drugs to block the replication of the virus. All current antiretroviral drugs, including newer classes, are at risk of becoming partly or fully inactive because of the emergence of drug-resistant virus strains.

What causes HIV mutation?

The mechanism behind such mutations is thought to be due to the inability of the viral reverse transcriptase to accurately transcribe RNA to DNA. Indeed, the rates of these spontaneous mutations determine the genetic diversity and evolution of RNA viruses.

How long does it take for HIV to become resistant?

Generally speaking, the time it takes to go from HIV infection to AIDS is around five to 10 years if no medical intervention is made. Differences in time can be due to any number of factors, including: The genetic strain of HIV a person has been infected with (some of which may be more or less virulent than others)

What is HIV resistance mutation?

A genetic mutation known as CCR5-delta 32 is responsible for the two types of HIV resistance that exist. CCR5-delta 32 hampers HIV’s ability to infiltrate immune cells. The mutation causes the CCR5 co-receptor on the outside of cells to develop smaller than usual and no longer sit outside of the cell.

What causes medication resistance?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or drug resistance, develops when microbes, including bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses, no longer respond to a drug that previously treated them effectively.

Which virus mutates the most?

Further, the RNA genome with the highest mutation rate, a hammerhead viroid (37), is 1 order of magnitude smaller than the smallest RNA virus genomes.

What factors cause antimicrobial resistance?

The main drivers of antimicrobial resistance include the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials; lack of access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for both humans and animals; poor infection and disease prevention and control in health-care facilities and farms; poor access to quality, affordable medicines.

How often do coronaviruses mutate?

A typical SARS-CoV-2 virus accumulates only two single-letter mutations per month in its genome — a rate of change about half that of influenza and one-quarter that of HIV, says Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

What is the mutation rate of viruses?

Despite these uncertainties, it can be inferred that viral mutation rates roughly range between 10−8 and 10−4 substitutions per nucleotide per cell infection (s/n/c), with DNA viruses occupying the 10−8–10−6 range and RNA viruses the 10−6–10−4 range (Fig. 2a).

What causes HIV to become resistant to drugs?

HIV drug resistance is caused by changes in the genetic structure of HIV that affect the ability of drugs to block the replication of the virus. All current antiretroviral drugs, including newer classes, are at risk of becoming partly or fully inactive because of the emergence of drug-resistant virus strains.

What do you need to know about HIV resistance testing?

Resistance testing is a type of blood test that helps identify which HIV drugs you are resistant to and which you are susceptible to. It provides your doctor with a snapshot of the types and levels of drug resistance that exist within your viral pool. 2 

Are there viral mutations associated with antiretroviral resistance?

There are hundreds of viral mutations associated with antiretroviral resistance. The Stanford HIV Drug Resistance Database keeps an up-to-date record that helps clinicians and programmers to interpret results from drug resistance tests.

What causes HIV to become resistant to art?

HIV drug resistance occurs when microevolution causes virions to become tolerant to antiretroviral treatments (ART). ART can be used to successfully manage HIV infection, but a number of factors can contribute to the virus mutating and becoming resistant.