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Cross-resistance

Once resistance to one anti-HIV drug has developed, this may mean that your HIV is also resistant to other, similar anti-HIV drugs you haven’t yet taken. This is called cross-resistance.

Cross-resistance can affect all the currently available anti-HIV drugs to some extent. However, cross-resistance isn’t inevitable if you develop resistance to one drug, and the use of resistance tests will help you and your HIV doctor select the anti-HIV drugs that are likely to be most effective against your virus if resistance does develop.

This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.