Question
Will missing meds for 11 days cause drug resistance?
26 March 2024. Related: Adherence, All topics, Resistance.
Hi! I missed my treatment for 11 days. I have been on treatment consistently for 2 years now. Should I be worried about drug resistance?
Answer
Hi there
This is a good question that gets asked for different reasons.
Sometimes, even when being careful with meds, treatment can be interrupted. Sometimes from forgetting to take meds when travelling, or running out if you stay longer than planned. In some countries, a pharmacy can sometimes run out – though hopefully this is now rare.
If you only stop treatment once or twice, the risk of resistance is very low. It is also much lower now with modern HIV meds. But if it happens a lot, then all these small risks add up to become larger.
The risk comes during the first couple of days when you stop and when you restart. This is when drug levels are low enough for resistance to perhaps develop.
Sometimes we ask about whether viral load will be high enough to be a risk of transmission to sexual partners.
Luckily, viral load is likely to still be undetectable for at least a week after stopping meds and sometimes longer.
Viral load also usually quickly returns to being undetectable when ART is restarted.
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