High prevalence and incidence of HIV-1 in a counseling and testing center in the city of Itajaí, Brazil

ABSTRACT Itajaí is a port city in southern Brazil with one of the highest incidence and mortality rates from AIDS in the country. The prevalence and incidence of HIV infection were investigated in 1085 of 3196 new HIV-1 infection cases evaluated in the counseling and testing center of Itajaí from January 2002 to August 2008. Recent infections were assessed using the BED(tm), and polregion sequencing was performed in 76 samples. The prevalence ranged from 3.08% to 6.17% among women and from 10.26% to 17.36% among men. A total of 17% of infections were classified as recent, with annual incidence varying from 1.6% to 4.8 per 100 patient/year among women and from 2.05% to 8.5 per 100 patient/year among men. Pol sequences were obtained from 38 randomly recent infections selected individuals: 71% were infected by subtype C, 24% B, 2% D, and 2% F1. Among 38 subjects with established infection, 76% were subtype C, and 24% B. Transmitted drug resistance was detected in 18.4% of recent infection subjects (7.8% to nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, 5.2% to non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, and 5.2% protease inhibitors) and 5.2% of subjects with established infection had nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors resistance. The high prevalence and incidence of HIV infection in this region is unprecedented in studies involving cases evaluated in the counseling and testing centers in Brazil.

Dinamica Viral do Subtipo B do HIV-1 Brasileiro / Viral Dinamic Of Brazilian HIV-1 Subtype B

Analises do comportamento da viremia plasmatica apos a introducao de esquemas terapeuticos contendo associacoes de drogas potentes tem sido alvo de estudos, os quais conduziram a importantes informacoes sobre o comportamento do HIV-1 quando exposto a estas drogas. Nesta pesquisa, foram avaliados dez pacientes infectados pelo subtipo B brasileiro, nunca expostos a drogas anti-retrovirais, com o objetivo de avaliar possiveis diferencas na resposta virologica dos mesmos em comparacao aos estudos publicados anteriormente, os quais avaliaram o subtipo B americano. Usou-se o esquema terapeutico mais potente disponivel no momento do estudo, baseados em dados mais recentes de avaliacao da supressao viral, tendo como resultado curvas de decaimento estremamente semelhantes aos resultados de estudos previamente publicados, com queda importante destas particulas virais nas primeiras duas semanas de tratamento, correspondendo a eliminacao de particulas virus livres e a perda de celulas produtivamente infectadas, com valor medio de decaimento de 2,51logs na maioria dos pacientes estudados, seguidos por um declinio mais lento, correspondendo a manutencao da eliminacao de virions pelos reservatorios virais. Conclui-se com este estudo, o ja comprovado anteriormente, que esquemas mais potentes causam declinios mais rapidos da viremia plasmatica devido a acao destes nos compartimentos infectados pelo HIV-1.