Surveillance of transmitted HIV drug resistance among women attending antenatal clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
BACKGROUND
In resource-limited settings where antiretroviral treatment (ART) access is being scaled-up, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends surveillance of transmitted HIV drug resistance (HIVDR). We used the WHO HIVDR threshold survey method to assess transmitted HIVDR in Dar es Salaam where ART was introduced in 1995 and where approximately 11,000 people are currently on ART.


METHODS
From November 2005 to February 2006, dried blood spot (DBS) specimens were made from remnant specimens collected during the national HIV serosurvey from 60 primagravidas <25 years old attending six antenatal clinics for routine syphilis testing. Genotyping was performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Protease and reverse transcriptase drug resistance mutations were identified using the Stanford University HIV drug resistance database. We used the National Institutes of Health genotyping tool for HIV-1 subtyping. HIVDR prevalence categorization was based on the WHO threshold survey binomial sequential sampling method.


RESULTS
Among the 60 eligible specimens collected, 50 DBS were successfully amplified using RT-PCR. Sequencing was performed on the first 39 specimens: 13 (33.3%) were subtype A1, 13 (33.3%) subtype C, and 4 (10.3%) subtype D, the remainder differed in the closest subtype based on protease versus reverse transcriptase. No resistance mutations were seen; HIVDR to all drug classes was categorized as <5%.


CONCLUSIONS
Our survey indicates that prevalence of transmitted HIVDR among recently infected pregnant women in Dar es Salaam is low (<5/%). The survey should be repeated during the next HIV sentinel survey in Dar es Salaam and extended to other regions where ART is being scaled up.
National AIDS Control Program, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Geofrey R
GR
Somi
Tabitha
T
Kibuka
Karidja
K
Diallo
Tulli
T
Tuhuma
Diane E
DE
Bennett
Chunfu
C
Yang
Charles
C
Kagoma
Eligius F
EF
Lyamuya
Roland O
RO
Swai
Sidibe
S
Kassim
D000328:Adult; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014944:World Health Organization
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents