Stanford University School of Medicine's researchers recently put together a list of 93 common mutations of the AIDS virus, which can be associated to its drug resistance.
The researchers, who carried out this work in collaboration with the World Health Organization and seven other laboratories, say that the list can be used to track future resistance trends throughout the world.
They revealed that they analysed data from about 15,220 patients across the globe to develop an updated and accurate list of the most common, resistance-related mutations of the virus.
"The epidemic is changing, especially as new drugs are being developed," said Dr. Robert Shafer, associate professor of infectious diseases and geographic medicine at Stanford and the senior author of the paper.
"To effectively track the spread of drug resistance, particularly transmitted drug resistance, you need a sensitive and specific list that's considered standard and is adopted by all the surveillance studies," he added.
He further said that the list, published online in the journal PLoS-One, is important because it helps countries gauge the effectiveness of their HIV medication programs.