antiretroviral

adjective an·ti·re·tro·vi·ral \ -ˈre-trō-ˌvī-rəl \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of antiretroviral

: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses

antiretroviral drugs

antiretroviral therapy

—

antiretroviral

noun

Recent Examples of antiretroviral from the Web

And in West and Central Africa, 80% of infected children are not receiving antiretroviral therapy, making it the region with the world's lowest rate of access to that type of treatment.

— siobhan o'grady, latimes.com, "Every day, 170 young people are infected with HIV in West and Central Africa, and many can't afford treatment," 2 Apr. 2018
Over that time, a man can spread the virus to dozens of partners; but a man who has been tested and takes his antiretroviral pills every day is at virtually zero risk of passing on the virus.

— donald g. mcneil jr., New York Times, "Grindr, Popular Gay Sex App, to Offer H.I.V. Test Reminders," 26 Mar. 2018
Many of the 40 had gone through treatments with at least 10 antiretroviral drugs.

— david j. neal, miamiherald, "FDA approves new HIV treatment drug for people with limited options | Miami Herald," 6 Mar. 2018
Indeed, 18-year-olds today were born in 1996, the year HIV-fighting antiretroviral drugs were introduced.

— tim fitzsimons, Newsweek, "The Pill Truvada Can Prevent HIV/AIDS, and for Some, That's a Problem," 7 Oct. 2014
Shortly after his diagnosis seven years earlier, Dan started taking high doses of AZT (zidovudine, the first antiretroviral drug approved by the FDA in 1987) as a part of his treatment protocol.

— s. kirk walsh, Longreads, "From One Friendship, Lessons on Life, Death, AIDS and Childlessness," 22 Jan. 2018
When taken as directed, this antiretroviral treatment can stop the infection from taking hold in someone’s system.

— sophie saint thomas, SELF, "PrEP Isn’t Just for Men Who Have Sex With Men—Should You Be on It?," 19 Jan. 2018
It was also cited by former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa in rejecting antiretroviral drugs to treat AIDS in the 2000s, contributing to at least one public health crisis.

— linda qiu, New York Times, "Fingerprints of Russian Disinformation: From AIDS to Fake News," 12 Dec. 2017
One wonders whether this movie is a product of a world where antiretroviral drugs and other treatments have made HIV a livable condition so many.

— josephine livingstone, New Republic, "The Movie that AIDS Victims Deserve," 20 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antiretroviral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of antiretroviral

1979

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Medical Dictionary

antiretroviral

adjective an·ti·ret·ro·vi·ral \ -ˈre-trō-ˌvī-rəl \

variants: also anti-retroviral

medical Definition of antiretroviral

: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses

All four drugs, which inhibit HIV protease and thus interfere with viral maturation and replication, are the most potent antiretroviral agents available to treat patients with HIV disease.
—The Journal of the American Medical Association, 20 Nov. 1996

antiretroviral therapy

— see highly active antiretroviral therapy

antiretroviral

noun

variants: also anti-retroviral

medical Definition of antiretroviral

: an agent effective against retroviruses

Current anti-HIV drugs, or antiretrovirals, bind to specific HIV enzymes and impede their activity.
—Douglas D. Richman, Scientific American, July 1998

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antiretroviral

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antiretroviral

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antiretroviral

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