Original articles

Prevalence of drug-resistant mutations in newly diagnosed drug-naïve HIV-1-infected individuals in a treatment site in the Waterberg District, Limpopo province

Julius Nwobegahay, Pascal Bessong, Tracy Masebe, Lufuno Mavhandu, Cecile Manhaeve, Norbert Ndjeka, Gloria Selabe

Abstract


Aim. We studied the prevalence of resistance mutations in drug-naïve HIV-infected individuals at the Bela-Bela treatment site to gather information on the presence of antiretroviral (ARV) drug-resistant viruses in drug-naïve populations, so as to improve treatment guidance.
Subjects and methods. Drug-naive HIV-1-infected individuals were sequentially recruited between February 2008 and December 2008 from individuals visiting the voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services of the Bela-Bela HIV/AIDS Wellness Clinic. Viral subtyping was done by phylogenetic analysis; drug-resistant mutations were determined according to the Stanford HIV Drug Resistance Interpretation and the International AIDS society-USA guidelines.
Results. A drug-resistant mutation prevalence of 3.5% (95% confidence interval 0.019796 - 0.119077) comprising Y181C and L33F was observed; 98% of the viruses were HIV-1 subtype C on the protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) gene regions.
Conclusion. The prevalence of drug-resistant mutations in drug-naïve persons may be low in Bela-Bela after 8 years of access to antiretroviral treatment (ART), and resistance testing before initiating treatment may not be needed.

Authors' affiliations

Julius Nwobegahay,

Pascal Bessong, AIDS Virus Research Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Venda

Tracy Masebe,

Lufuno Mavhandu,

Cecile Manhaeve,

Norbert Ndjeka,

Gloria Selabe,

Full Text

PDF (76KB)

Keywords

Drug resistance mutations; HIV-1 subtype C; Protease; Reverse trancriptase

Cite this article

South African Medical Journal 2011;101(5):335-337.

Article History

Date submitted: 2010-07-15
Date published: 2011-05-06

Article Views

Abstract views: 2596
Full text views: 1045

Comments on this article

*Read our policy for posting comments here