HIV-1 drug resistance among untreated patients in Kenya: Current status
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Date
2011
Authors
Nyamache, A. K.
Khamadi, A.S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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Abstract
High active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has dramatically reduced mortality and morbidity among people
living with HIV and AIDS globally. However, drug resistant mutations of HIV are a great challenge to the
benefits of HAART. Development of drug resistance to antiretroviral medication can occur in persons on
antiretroviral therapy, by acquisition of an already resistant strain in persons who have never taken
medication or by natural polymorphism of the virus in vivo. This leads to treatment failure hence
complicating management of HIV patients. With the introduction of generic HAART, there has been a steep
increase in the number of patients put on HAART in Kenya but this has not reached anticipated 100%
coverage. Therefore, most patients either pay for medications out of their own pockets or fail to access
completely. Interruptions in therapy due to monetary constraints are not uncommon. Little is known on HIV
drug resistance in resource constrained settings like Kenya where the predominant circulating HIV-1 subtype
is A1. The transmissibility of drug-resistant forms of the virus is also a major concern especially when
formulating treatment guidelines. This article reviews published data available on the patterns of HIV-1 drug
resistance among drug naive population in Kenya
Description
Available at www.m.elewa.org/JABS/2011/43/8.pdf
Keywords
Antiretroviral drugs,, HIV drug resistance, non-B subtypes, primary drug resistance
Citation
Journal of Applied Biosciences 43: 2958 – 2966