Detection of Antiretroviral Drug-Resistant Mutations and HIV-1 Subtypes in Circulation Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, SEM Females, and Female Sex Workers: Results of Vietnam's HIV Sentinel Surveillance Plus System, 2018-2020

Abstract

Background: HIV drug resistance can reduce the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs in preventing morbidity and mortality, limit options for treatment, and prevention. Our study aimed to assess HIV-1 subtypes and HIV drug resistance among key populations in HIV Sentinel Surveillance Plus Behavior in 2018 and 2020.

Methods: One-stage venue-based cluster sampling was used to recruit participants at hotspots identified for men who have sex with men (MSM) in 7 provinces and sexual minority females and female sex workers (FSW) in 13 provinces. Participants completed a standard questionnaire about risk and preventive behaviors, and antiretroviral therapy history, and provided intravenous blood for HIV testing. HIV drug resistance testing was conducted on HIV-positive samples with viral load >1000 copies/mL.

Results: A total of 185 of 435 (42.5%) HIV-positive samples had viral load ≥1000 copies/mL, of which 130 of 136 from MSM and 26 of 49 from FSW were successfully sequenced. Six HIV-1 subtypes were detected (CRF01_AE, A, CRF07/08_BC, B, C, CRF25_cpx), with CRF01_AE (82.7%, 129/156) the most common. Drug resistance mutations were detected in 16.7% of participants overall (26/156), in 15.4% (20/130) of MSM, and in 23.1% (6/26) of FSW. Mutations associated with resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) were the most frequently detected (73.1%, 19/26). The high level of resistance was presented in NNRTI and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors classes. There are 10 major resistance mutations detected with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (M184VI-25.0%, K65KR-50.0%, Y115F-25%), NNRTI (K103N-21.1%, E138A-10.5%, V106M-5.3%, K101E-5.3%, G190A-5.3%), protease inhibitors (L33F-40.0%, M46L-20.0%).

Conclusions: Vietnam's HIV Sentinel Surveillance Plus system identified an emerging strain of HIV-1 and mutations associated with resistance to multiple drug classes among MSM and FSW.