Abstract

New York City health officials announced on February 11, 2005 that a patient rapidly developed full-blown AIDS shortly after being diagnosed with a rare, drug-resistant strain of HIV-1. The New York City Department of Health issued an alert to all hospitals and doctors and a press conference was held to announce the emergence of an aggressive HIV-1 strain that may be difficult to treat and that appears to trigger rapid progression to AIDS. Is the panic justified?

Highlights

  • Overall, this case seems relatively rare but not necessarily alarming

  • Drug-resistant HIV-1 variants usually have reduced replication capacity compared to a wild-type virus due to the mutations in the Reverse Transcriptase and Protease enzymes [9]

  • This loss in replication fitness may be even larger for a multi-drug resistant virus [10]

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Summary

Introduction

This case seems relatively rare but not necessarily alarming. Increased attention is not necessarily bad, but press conferences should be reserved for situations when a cluster of such transmissions is apparent. Drug-resistant HIV-1 variants usually have reduced replication capacity compared to a wild-type virus due to the mutations in the Reverse Transcriptase and Protease enzymes [9]. This loss in replication fitness may be even larger for a multi-drug resistant virus [10].

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