Glossary

CDC – Centre for Disease Control, part of the USA health administration.

revertant mutation – this term is used in two ways.

Firstly when referring to a genetic change that shows the virus is returning from a drug resistant mutation back to a wild-type genotype. This can sometimes take several stages. For example, T215E/D/E and S are revertant mutations that can indicate the drug resistant mutation T215Y is being replaced by wild-type (i.e. T215T).

It can also refer to the fitness of a virus. A revertant mutation can refer to an additional mutation that allows the virus to regain viral fitness (most drug mutations also make the vurs less fit). The second example is called a compensatory mutation as is compensates for the reduced fitness caused by the first mutation.

stage (staging) – the stage of hepatitis infection refers to the amount of scaring (fibrosis), from results from a biposy. It is usually measured on the Metavir scale of 0 to 4, where 0 represents no scarring and 4 cirrhosis, or on the Knodell scale of 0 to 6, where 0 is no scarring and 6 cirrhosis. See grading.

Summary of Product Characteristics (SPCs) – detailed information about a drug provided by the maker that is approved by the European Regulatory Agency (EMEA/CPMP). Also called EPARs.

EMEA published SPCs

lymphocyte – medical term for a white (clear) immune cell in blood, lymph or lymph tissue. Two main types of lymphocyte are B cells and T cells. CD4 cells and CD8 cells are both types of T cells. Sometimes a CD4 count is referred to as a CD4 T cell count or a T cell count.