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Government endorses UK HIV Drug Resistance Database
Government endorses UK HIV Drug Resistance
Database
16 November 2011
In a response to the report No vaccine, no
cure: HIV and AIDS in the United Kingdom issued by the Select
Committee on HIV and AIDS in the United Kingdom, the
Government has endorsed the UK
HIV Drug Resistance Database (UK HDRD).
The aim of the Select Committee report was to
examine what is necessary to tackle the HIV epidemic in the UK,
with a focus on prevention. In this context the work of the
Database was praised:
“Viral resistance is currently
monitored by the UK HIV Drug Resistance Database, funded by a grant
from the Medical Research Council. This work is of increasing
importance, and must continue to be supported.
"Continued monitoring of viral
resistance to drug treatments, currently carried out through the UK
HIV Drug Resistance Database, is essential.”
The Government response states:
“The Government agrees that this
novel and valuable data source should be continued.”
The UK HDRD was established in 2001 to collect
information on routinely performed HIV drug resistance tests in the
UK. By the end of 2010, over 75,000 test results had been received
and collated at the Clinical Trials Unit.
Monitoring of viral resistance is done
separately for patients who have never taken treatment (drug-naïve)
and for those who have (drug-experienced). Any resistance detected
in a drug-naïve patient must have been present in the virus of the
person who infected them. This is known as transmitted HIV drug
resistance (TDR), an important phenomenon that limits the treatment
options available to newly-infected people.
Resistance detected in drug-experienced
patients is usually caused by the virus mutating to escape one or
more drugs in the regimen that the patient is currently taking
(acquired resistance). Data gathered from drug-experienced patients
provide insights on how successful different drug regimens are in
stopping the virus from replicating.
Further information
