antiretroviral

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

|Updated on: 22 Jul 2018

Definition of antiretroviral

: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses

antiretroviral drugs

antiretroviral therapy

—

antiretroviral

noun

Recent Examples of antiretroviral from the Web

Mandela’s government enacted a law that allowed for the importation or local production of generic, antiretroviral drugs.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "It’s Normal for the U.S. to Put Corporate Profits Above Babies’ Health," 10 July 2018
According to the report, only 50% of gay men have ever tested for HIV and out of those infected and in need of antiretroviral drugs, only 9% are currently taking the medication.

— suyin haynes, Time, "Indonesia's Crackdown on LGBT Rights is Fueling an HIV Epidemic, Rights Group Warns," 2 July 2018
The good news is that antiretroviral drugs like PrEP, a daily pill, have reduced the risk of HIV by more than 90 percent.

— aaron randle, kansascity, "'Completely unreasonable': Gay men can donate blood — if they give up sex," 1 July 2018
What percentage of infected people are receiving antiretroviral drugs, which both stave off disease and prevent transmission?

— jon cohen, Science | AAAS, "Ending AIDS? These three places show the epidemic is far from over," 14 June 2018
Some lost lovers and friends to AIDS, or contracted HIV themselves but take antiretroviral medicines to treat it.

— robert weisman, BostonGlobe.com, "Gay boomers look ahead to an old age colored by uncertainty and the help of friends," 9 June 2018
McKinnon, who is 26, was not alive to see the devastation HIV wrought before the introduction of antiretroviral drugs that control the virus.

— NBC News, "A side-effect of preventing HIV with PrEP: Less condom use," 6 June 2018
One of the really key measures there was getting antiretroviral HIV drugs, initially two pills, principally to women in Africa.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr on Recode Decode," 19 May 2018
There’s no cure or vaccine for HIV, but the discovery of antiretroviral treatments turned an HIV diagnosis from a death sentence into a chronic illness.

— julia belluz, Vox, "A primer for Donald Trump: HIV and HPV are completely different viruses," 18 May 2018

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

NEW! Time Traveler

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