New test to detect drug-resistant virus in AIDS patients
Kounteya Sinha
[ 9 Jan, 2007 0148hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/New_test_to_detect_drug-
resistant_virus_in_AIDS_patients/articleshow/1101501.cms

NEW DELHI: Doctors will soon be able to better and more accurately
prescribe medicines that will work on patients infected with HIV.

Scientists at Duke University Medical Centre have developed a new
blood test that detects whether the HIV/AIDS patient is infected with
a drug-resistant virus.

This way, precious time will not be wasted in administering drugs
that fail to contain the spread of the virus.

Scientists say detecting resistance quicker will help doctors keep
patients healthy longer, reduce treatment costs and help cut an
infected person's risk of spreading HIV.

At present, tests only pick up drug-resistant strains when they
represent a significant portion of the virus circulating in a
person's bloodstream.

This development will immensely help countries like South Africa and
India, which have a heavy HIV burden. An estimated 5.2 million people
are living with HIV in India of which only 52,000 patients are on the
life saving anti-retroviral treatment.

India at present provides just the first line drugs. India's National
AIDS Control Organisation estimates that 2-3% of the 52,000 patients
have become resistant to first line drugs.

What's worse, a resistance test in India costs Rs 15,000. India plans
to upscale first line therapy to 100,000 people by 2007.

"If it proves effective and has no side effects and costs less, this
can be a boon for India. It improves the odds that the first course
of treatment is going to be successful," a Naco official told TOI.

The new test is an improvement on existing lab tests because it is
more sensitive, detecting resistant strains that make up less than 1%
of the virus circulating in the patient's blood.

Existing tests pick up drug-resistant HIV strains only if they make
up 20% or more of the total virus in the patient's system. "HIV
patients can get the right medicines, faster.

The present test detects resistance when drug treatment fails and
virus spreads in the blood, making an infected person more
contagious.

The new test, 1,000 times more sensitive than current methods, will
save time which is a crucial factor for an HIV infected person," an
official said.