Primary drug resistance among newly reported human immunodeficiency virus infected individuals in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province in 2015

Abstract

Objective To determine the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) primary drug resistance (HIV-PDR) in newly reported HIV-infected individuals in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province in 2015. Methods Newly reported HIV-positive patients who had viral load ≥1 000 copies/mL from January to November in 2015 were tested for HIV-PDR by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and HIV pol gene sequencing. HIV-PDR was determined according to the Surveillance Drug Resistance Mutations (SDRM) list of Stanford University, which was recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009. Results A total of 322 newly reported HIV-infected cases whose pol gene was successfully amplified were included in the final analysis. Of them, 211 (65.5%) were male, and 229 (71.1%) were sexually transmitted. A total of 152 (47.2%) were Chinese. A total of 29 HIV subtypes were found, including type B (12.1%), type C (28.0%), type CRF01_AE (24.5%), type CRF07_BC (5.9%), type CRF08_BC (5.6%), type 62_BC (7.5%), type BC-new breakpoint (3.4%) and other subtypes (13%). Six patients (1.9%) were defined as primary resistance to HIV according to the WHO standard. Conclusions The prevalence of HIV-PDR is 1.9% among newly reported HIV-infected individuals, which is relatively low in the studied area. But HIV-PDR surveillance should be strengthened in this area with the scaling up of antiretroviral therapy. Key words: HIV infections; Drug resistance; Subtype; Newly reported