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Updated: Oct 15, 2025
An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
Resistance Testing for Management of HIV Virologic Failure in Sub-Saharan Africa : An Unblinded Randomized Controlled
Mark J Siedner1, Mahomed-Yunus S Moosa2, Suzanne McCluskey3
1Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda, Africa Health Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa (M.J.S.).
Background:
Virologic failure in HIV predicts the development of drug resistance and mortality. Genotypic resistance testing (GRT), which is the standard of care after virologic failure in high-income settings, is rarely implemented in sub-Saharan Africa.
Objective:
To estimate the effectiveness of GRT for improving virologic suppression rates among people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa for whom first-line therapy fails.
Design:
Pragmatic, unblinded, randomized controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02787499).
Setting:
Ambulatory HIV clinics in the public sector in Uganda and South Africa.
Patients:
Adults receiving first-line antiretroviral therapy with a recent HIV RNA viral load of 1000 copies/mL or higher.
Intervention:
Participants were randomly assigned to receive standard of care (SOC), including adherence counseling sessions and repeated viral load testing, or immediate GRT.
Measurements:
The primary outcome of interest was achievement of an HIV RNA viral load below 200 copies/mL 9 months after enrollment.
Results:
The trial enrolled 840 persons, divided equally between countries. Approximately half (51%) were women. Most (72%) were receiving a regimen of tenofovir, emtricitabine, and efavirenz at enrollment. The rate of virologic suppression did not differ 9 months after enrollment between the GRT group (63% [263 of 417]) and SOC group (61% [256 of 423]; odds ratio [OR], 1.11 [95% CI, 0.83 to 1.49]; P = 0.46). Among participants with persistent failure (HIV RNA viral load ≥1000 copies/mL) at 9 months, the prevalence of drug resistance was higher in the SOC group (76% [78 of 103] vs. 59% [48 of 82]; OR, 2.30 [CI, 1.22 to 4.35]; P = 0.014). Other secondary outcomes, including 9-month survival and retention in care, were similar between groups.
Limitation:
Participants were receiving nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based therapy at enrollment, limiting the generalizability of the findings.
Conclusion:
The addition of GRT to routine care after first-line virologic failure in Uganda and South Africa did not improve rates of resuppression.
Primary Funding Source:
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
