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In 2005, a media furor briefly arose over a “killer” multidrug-resistant HIV strain isolated from a man in New York City (ACC Apr 13 2005). Virologists have continued to examine the virus and its lineage carefully and have now provided an update with further thought-provoking details.
The index patient was diagnosed with late-stage AIDS, by both CD4-cell count and clinical criteria, despite a history suggesting very recent seroconversion. Genotyping of the virus identified resistance mutations to almost all antiretrovirals in clinical use at the time. After a public health alert was issued, two large clinical laboratories combed their records for likely viral matches on the basis of pol gene homology. Close matches were identified in specime…