An alarmingly high proportion of anti-retroviral drugs resistant HIV-1 infection among high risk groups in central Vietnam: A sub-study of the national sentinel survey

Hung Thai Do, Dong Thanh Nguyen, Lan Anh Thi Nguyen, Duong Huy Do, Huy Xuan Le, Xuan Mai Thi Trinh, Hong Vy Nu Ton, Ikumi Sawada, Noriko Kitamura, Minh Nhat Le, Keisuke Yoshihara, Thu Huong Thi Phan, Chien Trong Bui, Koya Ariyoshi, Lay Myint Yoshida

We investigated the prevalence of HIV drug resistance among high risk groups such as injecting drug user (IDU), female sex worker (FSW) and men having sex with men (MSM) in central Vietnam. We used HIV positive samples from 2012-2013 sentinel surveillance surveys. Study subjects were screened for HIV infection by standardized screening assays and the positive samples were further tested for HIV viral load and drug resistant mutations by in-house assays. Drug resistant mutations (DRMs) were determined using the Stanford University online sequence analysis tool. Their risk behaviors were also investigated. During the study period, 6,016 subjects were screened and 97 were positive (IDU: N=63, 3%, FSW: N=24, 0.8% and MSM: N=10, 1%). Ninety-two samples (45 from 2012 and 47 from 2013) were available for further testing. HIV viral load was detected in 56 (60.9%) samples and drug resistant genotyping was successfully performed in 40 (71.4%) samples. All were CRF01_AE, except for one (2.5%) IDU with subtype B. Thirteen individuals (32.5%) were carrying HIV virus with at least one HIV DRM: 9 IDUs, 1 FSW and 3 MSM. The HIV seroprevalence among high risk individuals in central Vietnam was low however high proportion of drug resistant HIV-1 was observed in high risk group.