What is resistance?

HIV is tricky! HIV is an expert at finding weak points in the body's defenses. For people with HIV on treatment, skipping just one dose can create lower drug levels in the body. Lower drug levels create a weak point where HIV can take advantage. HIV does this by changing its shape or structure to avoid being detected by a drug. This change is known as a viral mutation. Certain types of viral mutations can make drugs less effective at controlling HIV. This is called resistance.

The impact of resistance

Like a wildfire, resistance to a particular drug can grow and spread as drug-resistant HIV makes more and more copies of itself. Eventually, this can make a drug completely ineffective at controlling HIV infection. To make matters worse, resistance to a particular drug can lead to a situation known as cross-resistance. Cross-resistance occurs when HIV, resistant to a particular drug, also becomes resistant to other drugs of the same type. For example, HIV that is resistant to a particular protease inhibitor may also develop resistance to another protease inhibitor. The more drugs to which HIV becomes resistant, the more difficult HIV infection becomes to treat. This is why sticking to a medication schedule set by a healthcare provider is so important.

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