OBJECTIVETo survey the prevalence of HIV-1 drug resistance after five years antiretroviral treatment in Henan province.

METHODSThrough the cross-sectional study, serum specimens of 69 HIV infected individuals that were 2 to 25 years old who were newly diagnosed according the WHO standard from November 2007 to August 2008 and did not receive antiretroviral treatment (ART) were collected. HIV-1 pol genetic mutations associated with drug resistance were identified with RT-PCR and interpreted.

RESULTSOut of 69 samples, 50 samples were successfully amplified and sequenced. Seven drug resistant mutation in reverse transcriptase region were detected and three mutations in protein region. In one specimen, a mutation (K103N) in reverse transcriptase was identified which caused high level resistance to NNRTIs, but no proteinase inhibitor mutation was found in protein region. According to the sampling and threshold surveillance criteria, the prevalence of drug resistant HIV-1 in Henan was less than 5%.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of drug resistant HIV-1 was still at low level in Henan. However, the proportion of resistant strains would be higher with the antiretroviral treatment. We should pay more attention to the transmission of resistant strains and continue the drug resistance surveillance.