Viral-Load Monitoring Beneficial in Resource-Constrained Settings

A new study quantifies the benefits of such monitoring but does little to answer the bigger question of whether limited funds should be spent on monitoring or on providing ART to more patients.

Millions of HIV-infected people in low-income countries have been placed on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the past few years, an achievement once considered impossible. Unfortunately, millions more need immediate treatment and do not have access to it, and concerns abound about the lack of viral-load monitoring among those already on treatment. Without such monitoring, patients with undetectable viral loads may be switched to second-line ART unnecessarily, and those with virologic failure may experience a delay in switching that could promote the development of drug resistance, compromise response to subsequent therapy, and influence survival.

In the present study, researchers compared outcomes of ART in settings with and without viral-loa…

Reviewing Author

Mauro Schechter, MD

Viral-Load Monitoring Beneficial in Resource-Constrained Settings

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Reviewing Author