Around 40% of people taking combination therapy in France have detectable viral load, and 8% have run out of treatment options, according to a report to the French government by doctors published this week.
The report, edited by Dr Jean-Paul Delfraissy of Hopital Kremlin-Bicetre in Paris, blames the development of drug resistance, and recommends that in cases of viral load rebound, a resistance test should be carried out in order to help in the selection of a new drug regimen.
The report, the work of a panel of 27 French HIV specialists, continues to recommend that therapy should begin with a protease-containing combination, despite a shift towards the use of first-line NNRTI-containing regimens in the UK.