This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (24)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • HIV/AIDS  • Alert me on articles by topic

The Virus Strikes Back

Douglas L. Mayers, MD

JAMA. 1998;279:2000-2002.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has developed elaborate mechanisms to escape the immune system. Since the reverse transcriptase of HIV makes, on average, 1 error per 10000 bases copied, and the virus has a 9200-base genome, each virus produced is slightly different from its forebear. Over time each patient develops a swarm of virus variants (quasi species) with all possible 1-base and most 2-base variants represented. Additionally, if 2 viruses infect 1 cell or 2 infected cells get fused by HIV infection to form a syncytium, 2 different viral genomes can be packaged into the virus produced. When these viruses with 2 different HIV genomes infect the next cell, the reverse transcriptase enzyme can switch back and forth between the 2 genomes to form a recombinant virus with portions of genes from both parent viruses. The mechanisms of mutation and recombination, which the virus uses to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

From the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md. Dr Mayers is moving to the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich.

RELATED ARTICLES

Public Health Implications of Antiretroviral Therapy and HIV Drug Resistance
Mark A. Wainberg and Gerald Friedland
JAMA. 1998;279(24):1977-1983.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Antiretroviral Drug Resistance Testing in Adults With HIV Infection: Implications for Clinical Management
Martin S. Hirsch, Brian Conway, Richard T. D'Aquila, Victoria A. Johnson, Françoise Brun-Vézinet, Bonaventura Clotet, Lisa M. Demeter, Scott M. Hammer, Donna M. Jacobsen, Daniel R. Kuritzkes, Clive Loveday, John W. Mellors, Stefano Vella, Douglas D. Richman, and for the International AIDS Society–USA Panel
JAMA. 1998;279(24):1984-1991.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Molecular Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 in Yaounde, Cameroon: Evidence of Major Drug Resistance Mutations in Newly Diagnosed Patients Infected with Subtypes Other than Subtype B
Ndembi et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2008;46:177-184.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Changes in Sexual Behavior Among HIV-Infected Women After Initiation of HAART
Wilson et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2004;94:1141-1146.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Drug Resistance Patterns, Genetic Subtypes, Clinical Features, and Risk Factors in Military Personnel with HIV-1 Seroconversion
Brodine et al.
ANN INTERN MED 1999;131:502-506.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT