Implications of antiretroviral resistance on viral fitness

Treatment of HIV infected patients with antiretroviral drugs often results in the emergence of virus variants with reduced sensitivity to these drugs. However, the viral load often remains partially suppressed below pretherap y levels, which might be explained by a reduced fitness of the drug resista nt viral population. This review describes the effects of antiretroviral re sistance development on the fitness of the viral population and its clinica l implications. Curr Opin Infect Dis 14:23-28. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.