virological failure – the term for when viral load levels never reach undetectable, or if they rebound to higher levels after previously being undetectable. See clinical failure.
Glossary
Selected words and phrases
immune system – the system that your body uses to fight infections.
bile duct – a tube that carries bile from the liver to the gallbladder and then to the small intestine biopsy: taking a small sample of body tissue for examination and testing in the laboratory
platelet – a blood cell that helps with blood clotting.
late breaker – in research, this is a study presented at a medical meeting that was submitted to the conference organisers after the main programme had been decided. There are usually only a few dozen late-breakers, where the last minute results are thought important enough to include – like ‘late-breaking news’. Although this studies often contain the most exciting news, they are given much less time to present their results – maybe less than 10 minutes compared to a normal 15 or 20 minute session. These summary results are also difficult to verify because they include fewer slides and fewer details.