Antiretroviral drug resistance among antiretroviral-naïve persons with recent HIV infection in Thailand.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prevalence and patterns of antiretroviral (ARV) drug resistance (ARV-DR) among ARV drug-naïve, recently infected persons with HIV in the 4-year interval (2003-2006) after the inception of the National Access to ARV Programme for People who have AIDS in Thailand.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of patients with recent HIV infection for HIV risks, ARV-DR risks and baseline ARV-DR.


RESULTS
Seven of the 305 patients (2%) had baseline ARV-DR. Via contract tracing, all seven patients with transmitted ARV-DR identified sexual partners with prior ARV treatment failure and had documented low (<75%) ARV adherence. Annual ARV-DR increased from 0 to 5.2% (P=0.06) between 2003 and 2006.


CONCLUSIONS
Report of sexual partners with potential HIV and ARV drug exposures can prompt baseline ARV-DR testing of at-risk individuals, while behavioural interventions for adherence and safer sex are refined to minimize the emergence of resistance to generic, fixed-dose combination stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine (GPO-VIR) therapy.
Apisarnthanarak
A
A
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Thammasat University Hospital, Pratumthani, Thailand. anapisarn@yahoo.com
Jirayasethpong
T
T
Sa-nguansilp
C
C
Thongprapai
H
H
Kittihanukul
C
C
Kamudamas
A
A
Tungsathapornpong
A
A
Mundy
L M
LM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017280:Condoms; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D013785:Thailand; D019562:Viral Load
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral