HIV: first multidrug-resistant cases reported in Australia
8 October 2010
Sydney doctors have reported the first 2 cases of multidrug-resistant HIV in Australia.
While 10-15 per cent of HIV infections in Australia are drug resistant, most are resistant to only one type of antiretroviral treatment. (As HIV is a retrovirus, anti-HIV treatments are termed 'antiretroviral'.) But the infections in the 2 Sydney patients were resistant to all 3 types of antiretroviral therapy. With these 2 cases, there are now 13 published cases worldwide of HIV infection resistant to all 3 types of therapy.
In the 2 Australian patients, the virus had almost identical genes for drug resistance, doctors from the immunology and infectious diseases unit at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, reported (Intern Med J 2010; 40: 657-61). They believe the first person infected the second, who was diagnosed a year later.
Testing for drug resistance genes is recommended for all new HIV diagnoses, the doctors said.
Last Reviewed: 08 October 2010
- 1. Tong WW, McAllister J, White PA, et al. Intern Med J 2010; 40: 657-61. Transmission of triple-class, drug-resistant HIV-1 in Australia. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2010.02296.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1445-5994.2010.02296.x/abstract (accessed 13 Oct 2010).
