Short Communication: High Viral Load and Multidrug Resistance Due to Late Switch to Second-Line Regimens Could Be a Major Obstacle to Reach the 90-90-90 UNAIDS Objectives in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the context of lifelong antiretroviral treatment (ART) as early as possible and to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health treat by 2030, it is important to evaluate the potential risk of transmission of HIV-1 drug resistance (HIVDR) in resource-limited countries (RLCs). Since HIV transmission is driven by HIV-1 RNA viral load (VL), we studied the association between plasma VL and HIVDR profiles in 451 adults failing first-line ART from the 2LADY-ANRS12169/EDCTP trial in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Senegal. Median duration on first-line ART was 49 months (IQR: 33-69) and 91% patients were asymptomatic. Genotypic drug resistance testing was successful for 446 patients and 98.7% of them were resistant to at least one of the first-line drugs; 40.6% and 55.8% were resistant to two or three drugs of their ongoing first-line ART, respectively. The median VL was higher in patients with HIVDR to all ongoing first-line drugs than in those still susceptible to at least one drug; 4.7 log₁₀ copies/ml (IQR: 4.3-5.2) versus 4.2 log₁₀ copies/ml (IQR: 3.7-4.7), respectively (p < .001). The proportion of patients with HIVDR to all ongoing first-line drugs was highest (77.9% [95/122]) in patients with VL >5.0 log₁₀ copies/ml. High rates of cross-resistance to other nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors were observed and were also highest in patients with high VL. Without improvement of patient monitoring to avoid late switch to second-line regimens, a potential new epidemic caused by HIVDR strains could emerge in sub-Saharan Africa and compromise all efforts to reach 90-90-90 UNAIDS objective by 2020.