Resistance to antiviral drugs: the end of innocence

Article Abstract:

Viral strains such as herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus are developing resistance to anti-viral agents such as ganciclovir and acyclovir. Acyclovir-resistant HSV has altered the course of the disease, resulting in a severe form of HSV afflicting patients whose immune systems are impaired, particularly those with AIDS. Diagnostic virology laboratories must begin to develop techniques for the fast and accurate testing of drug sensitivity. A trial is planned that will compare two drugs, foscarnet and vidarabine, as anti-viral agents in patients with AIDS who have progressive herpetic lesions due to acyclovir-resistant mutants. Emphasis must be placed on the development of newer drugs that act against herpeviruses by different mechanisms. There is a strong likelihood that person-to-person transmission of resistant herpes mutants will occur. Drug-resistant mutants have already been located in people who have not been treated with anti-viral agents. Active surveillance for virulent drug-resistant viruses must be continued in both immunologically compromised and intact patients, not only for HSV but also for other possible drug-resistant viruses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus responsible for AIDS. The full dimensions of the emerging drug-resistance problem are not yet clear.

Evaluation, Complications and side effects, Drug resistance in microorganisms, Microbial drug resistance, Acyclovir, Antiviral agents, Herpes simplex virus, editorial

---

Idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia - immunodeficiency without evidence of HIV infection

Article Abstract:

The cause of CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia in patients without HIV infection remains unknown. CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia refers to the depletion of certain white blood cells and is seen in patients with HIV infection. Of 12 patients with CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia, none were infected with HIV. Nor were any of the patients infected with human T-cell lymphotropic virus, which like HIV, is a human retrovirus. Five patients had severe opportunistic infections, five had syndromes of unknown cause and two had no symptoms. Four patients had no known risk factors for HIV, five had had homosexual sex, two had multiple sex partners and one had used intravenous drugs. In three of the patients, the lymphocytopenia was wholly or partially reversible. More research on the clinical and epidemiological aspects of CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia is needed, and efforts to find a cause should not be limited to the search for another human retrovirus.

Causes of, Physiological aspects, Immunodeficiency, CD4 lymphocytes

---

Case 17-2003: A 38-year-old woman with fever, headache, and confusion

Article Abstract:

A case study of a 38-year-old woman is presented who complained of fever, headache, and confusion. She was diagnosed with acute meningoencephalitis after observing symptoms of a febrile illness characterized by headache, photophobia, and neck stiffness progressing to somnolence and disorientation that developed over a few days in a relatively young and healthy person.

Science & research, Care and treatment, Research, Women patients, Meningoencephalitis

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Case 29-2003: a 60-year-old man with fever, rigors, and sweats. A 50-year-old man with fever and joint pain
• Abstracts: Treatment of psoriasis. A 56-year-old man with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia and cutaneous and oral vesicles
• Abstracts: Case 10-2007: A 55-year-old man impaled in a rowing accident. A great constitutional disturbance
• Abstracts: Mouse gene targeting: the cultural mouse. Mouse gene targeting:generating mice with targeted mutations. Rapid anthrax test developed
• Abstracts: A 24-year-old man with asthma and bouts of epigastric pain, nausea, and vomiting. A newborn girl with seizures and persistent hypoglycemia

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.