Persistent low-level detectable HIV appeared to significantly increase the risk of treatment failure but had no long-term impact on the occurrence of serious health problems in a recent study. Having integrase inhibitors as part of the therapy seemed to be protective against treatment failure in those with low-level detectable virus, Professor Enrique Bernal and colleagues report in the journal AIDS.
Defined in this study as a viral load between 50 and 200 copies persisting over time, low-level detectable HIV has been thought to raise the risk of AIDS-related conditions (by weakening the immune system) and non-AIDS related conditions such as chronic heart disease, kidney disease and some cancers (by keeping the immune system in a state of chronic inflammation). It may also allow the virus to accumulate drug resistance simply by replicating more, which increases its chances of selecting resistant forms potentially leading to more treatment failure. This study confirms the link to treatment failure, but it does not link low-level detectable virus to an increased risk of AIDS-related or non-AIDS related conditions. This is in contrast to a recent study which found the risk to be increased.
Read the full news story at aidsmap.
Source : aidsmap
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