Objective: HIV-1 drug resistance is becoming a growing concern. It is estimated that one out of ten newly diagnosed persons in Europe acquires HIV drug resistant strain. The aim of this study was to determine the transmission of drug resistance and identify the resistance patterns among naïve patients in Poland.
Methods: The patients were asked to complete a brief questionnaire concerning demographic and epidemiological data. Viral load and CD4/CD8 counts were detemined before drug resistance testing. The sequencing assay was performed according to manufacturer's protocol.
Main observations: In the analysed cohort 14.7% of patients acquired HIV-1 drug resistant strains; further 9.5% were infected with strains with "possibly lowered susceptibility".
Results: In all cases resistance to single class of antiretroviral drugs were identified. In the class of PIs resistance to NFV was the most common. The rates of drug resistance among NNRTIs were almost the same--about 5%. In the NRTI class the resistance to AZT and d4T was the most frequent. HIV-1 subtype B was identified in 88.8% of cases.
Conclusions: The results of this study document high transmission rate of drug resistance in Poland and justify the necessity of common DR testing in our country.