Four men in King County have been diagnosed with a strain of HIV that is extremely hard to treat, and health officials are concerned it could spread further.
At least two types of HIV drugs don't work against the strain, and another type has limited effectiveness, officials from Public Health — Seattle & King County said Thursday.
"It's conceivable there can be more infections, and the gay community is at highest risk," said Dr. Bob Wood, the HIV/AIDS program director for Public Health.
We have already seen resistant strains of staphylococcus, now this. As we rely more & more on pills to fight disease the viruses adapt & mutate to become resistant. Over reliance & utilization of meds to fight things like ear infection will only make the problem worse.
Harrington said treating patients who are resistant to several types of drugs could cost more than twice the typical $15,000 a year that it costs to treat other HIV patients.
The good news for AID's/HIV patients is the overall cost of managing the disease has dropped dramatically in the last few years. Not long ago treatment easily ran $100,000 or more per year. While $15,000 is nothing to sneeze at, this is more manageable than a 6 figure treatment protocol.