Pretreatment Resistance Tests Urged

Because newly infected HIVers are becoming more likely to carry virus already resistant to one or more medications, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital are calling for treatment guidelines to include resistance tests for all HIV patients before medications are prescribed. Writing in the November 1 edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases, the scientists said pretreatment resistance tests could help identify the most useful drugs for patients. 'With more than 20 anti-HIV medications available, genotype resistance testing prior to the start of therapy can offer patients an individualized treatment plan,' says lead researcher Paul Sax, noting that resistance tests are currently offered only to patients experiencing treatment failure. 'There is no longer a good reason to wait.'