Viral Load Outperforms Other Criteria for Predicting Drug Resistance in Rural Cameroon

For patients switching to second-line ART, viral load was better than either immunologic or clinical measures for identifying HIV drug resistance.

In areas where viral load and resistance testing are not available, switching to a second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen because of presumed development of resistance to the initial regimen is guided by immunologic (i.e., fall of CD4-cell count to baseline or by 50% from on-treatment peak, or persistent level <100 cells/mm³), clinical (i.e., recurrent or new WHO Stage 4 condition, pulmonary tuberculosis, or severe bacterial infection), or adherence (<100% from month 1 to the visit preceding the failure point, as determined by the preceding thresholds) criteria. In a study conducted among HIV-infected, ART-naive patients in rural Cameroon, researchers compared these monitoring strategies.

A total of 456 patients (71% women; median …

Reviewing Author

Keith Henry, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardViiV Advisory Board

Editorial BoardsJAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

Keith Henry, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardViiV Advisory Board

Editorial BoardsJAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

Viral Load Outperforms Other Criteria for Predicting Drug Resistance in Rural Cameroon

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Reviewing Author