Evolution of HIV prevalence and behavioral factors among MSM in Togo between 2011 and 2015.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess sexual behavior and measure HIV prevalence among MSM in 2015, in Togo. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study from February to March 2015 in nine major cities of Togo. The respondent-driven sampling method was used to recruit MSM. Behavioral data were collected by interviewer-administered questionnaires. The blood tests were then carried out among MSM to assess their HIV status. Data were inputted into an Epidata database and exported to STATA® 9.0 for analysis. Qualitative variables were compared using the chi-2. RESULTS: A total of 496 MSM were involved in this study, with 43.35% in the capital, Lome. Over the past 12 months, 88.9% of MSM had had sexual intercourse with men and 24.1% of them had had sex with women. The last sexual intercourse was with a casual partner among 52.9% of MSM. During the last 30 days preceding the survey, 68.5% of MSM had regularly used a condom during active anal intercourse and 71.9% had used it during passive anal intercourse. The national prevalence rate of HIV among MSM was 13.0%. The factors associated with HIV infection were age of MSM OR = 5.30 [1.85-15.1], HIV testing history OR = 2.63 [1.18-5.87] and the city of residence of MSM OR = 5.56 [2.90-10.64]. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that HIV prevalence among MSM is five times higher than in the general population (13% vs 2.5%). Thus, the need to rethink HIV sensitization and prevention strategies targeting hidden and stigmatized populations such as MSM.

High Rates of Drug Resistance Among Newly Diagnosed HIV-infected Children in the National Prevention of Mother-to-child Transmission Program in Togo.

BACKGROUND: Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs have been largely scaled-up, but data on infant HIV drug resistance from PMTCT programs implemented in resource-limited countries are lacking. METHODS: Remnant dried blood spots from HIV-infected children (aged <18 months) tested through the Togo national early infant diagnosis program during 2012 and 2013 were collected and assessed for HIV drug resistance. Pol-RT (reverse transcriptase) region was amplified, sequenced and analyzed for the presence of drug resistance mutations (DRMs). RESULTS: Overall, 121 of 201 (60.2%) newly diagnosed children had detectable DRMs. Among the 131 of 201 (65.2%) children with reported exposure to maternal and/or infant antiretrovirals (ARVs), DRMs were detected in 99 children (75.6%). Importantly, in 41 of 201 children for whom no exposure to ARVs was reported, DRMs were detected in 11 children (26.8%). For 29 children, no data on ARV exposure were available. For the 121 of 201 children with DRMs, 99 of 121 (81.8%) had only nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor DRMs detected but 21 of 121 (17.3%) had both nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) DRMs. Among breast-fed children, drug resistance was more frequent when mothers were on antiretroviral therapy (ART), 61 of 75 (81.3%) versus 14 of 39 (35.9%) when mothers were not on ART (P < 0.001). Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance was more common when mothers were on ART. CONCLUSIONS: Scale-up and improvement of PMTCT strategies resulted in a global decrease of pediatric HIV infections, but our study shows high rates of drug resistance in infants for whom prevention failed.

Genetic diversity and transmission networks of HIV-1 strains among men having sex with men (MSM) in Lomé, Togo.

Understanding the HIV epidemic in key populations is important. Today only scarce information is available on HIV-1 strains that circulate in men having sex with men (MSM) in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we studied for the first time the genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains circulating in the MSM population in Lomé, the capital city from Togo. The overall subtype/CRF distribution in pol (protease and/or partial reverse transcriptase (RT)) among the 79 HIV-1 strains from MSM was as follows: CRF02_AG (72%, n=57), subtype G (2.5%, n=2), sub-subtype A3 (1.3%, n=1), and unique recombinant forms (URF) (24%, n=19). Among the 19 URFs four different mosaic structures were observed, annotated as URF1 to URF4. Fifteen sequences (URF1) had the same mosaic structure in pol (G/CRF02_AG) and could represent a new circulating recombinant form (CRF). Phylogenetic analysis of the RT sequences showed that there were several introductions of CRF02_AG strains in the MSM population, however half of the CRF02_AG and all URF1 strains formed a separate, well-supported cluster suggesting one major introduction of CRF02_AG in the MSM population followed by efficient transmission and emergence of a possible new CRF. At least 40% of the strains fell into recent transmission chains involving two to seven MSM. Comparison with >950 HIV-1 sequences from previous studies in Togo showed intermixing of the HIV-1 epidemics between MSM and the general population. Moreover, an HIV-1 strain from a recently HIV-1 infected male patient from Germany, fell within a cluster of HIV-1 strains from MSM from Togo, illustrating recent exchange between MSM from Africa and people from other geographic regions. With growing evidence of the importance of MSM in the dynamic of the HIV epidemic in Africa there is an urgent need for appropriate interventions to limit HIV transmission in this population group.

High rates of virological failure and drug resistance in perinatally HIV-1-infected children and adolescents receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy in routine clinics in Togo.

INTRODUCTION: Antiretroviral treatment (ART) has been scaled up over the last decade but compared to adults, children living with HIV are less likely to receive ART. Moreover, children and adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to virological failure (VF) and emergence of drug resistance. In this study we determined virological outcome in perinatally HIV-1-infected children and adolescents receiving ART in Togo. METHODS: HIV viral load (VL) testing was consecutively proposed to all children and adolescents who were on ART for at least 12 months when attending HIV healthcare services for their routine follow-up visit (June to September 2014). Plasma HIV-1 VL was measured using the m2000 RealTime HIV-1 assay (Abbott Molecular, Des Plaines, IL, USA). Genotypic drug resistance was done for all samples with VL>1000 copies/ml. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Among 283 perinatally HIV-1-infected children and adolescents included, 167 (59%) were adolescents and 116 (41%) were children. The median duration on ART was 48 months (interquartile range: 28 to 68 months). For 228 (80.6%), the current ART combination consisted of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) (zidovudine and lamivudine) and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) (nevirapine or efavirenz). Only 28 (9.9%) were on a protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimen. VL was below the detection limit (i.e. 40 copies/ml) for 102 (36%), between 40 and 1000 copies/ml for 35 (12.4%) and above 1000 copies/ml for 146 (51.6%). Genotypic drug-resistance testing was successful for 125/146 (85.6%); 110/125 (88.0%) were resistant to both NRTIs and NNRTIs, 1/125 (0.8%) to NRTIs only, 4/125 (3.2%) to NNRTIs only and three harboured viruses resistant to reverse transcriptase and PIs. Overall, 86% (108/125) of children and adolescents experiencing VF and successfully genotyped, corresponding thus to at least 38% of the study population, had either no effective ART or had only a single effective drug in their current ART regimen. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provided important information on virological outcome on lifelong ART in perinatally HIV-1-infected children and adolescents who were still on ART and continued to attend antiretroviral (ARV) clinics for follow-up visits. Actual conditions for scaling up and monitoring lifelong ART in children in resource-limited countries can have dramatic long-term outcomes and illustrate that paediatric ART receives inadequate attention.

Virological outcome among HIV-1 infected patients on first-line antiretroviral treatment in semi-rural HIV clinics in Togo.

BACKGROUND: Access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) in resource-limited countries has increased significantly but scaling-up ART into semi-rural and rural areas is more recent. Information on treatment outcome in such areas is still very limited notably due to additional difficulties to manage ART in these areas. RESULTS: 387 HIV-1 infected adults (≥18 years) were consecutively enrolled when attending healthcare services for their routine medical visit at 12 or 24 months on first-line ART in five HIV care centers (four semi-rural and one rural). Among them, 102 patients were on first-line ART for 12 ± 2 months (M12) and 285 for 24 ± 2 months (M24). Virological failure was observed in 70 (18.1 %) patients ranging from 13.9 to 31.6 % at M12 and from 8.1 to 22.4 % at M24 across the different sites. For 67/70 patients, sequencing was successful and drug resistance mutations were observed in 65 (97 %). The global prevalence of drug resistance in the study population was thus at least 16.8 % (65/387). Moreover, 32 (8.3 %) and 27 (6.9 %) patients were either on a completely ineffective ART regime or with only a single drug active. Several patients accumulated high numbers of mutations and developed also cross-resistance to abacavir, didanosine or the new NNRTI drugs like etravirine and rilpivirine. CONCLUSION: The observations on ART treatment outcome from ART clinics in semi-rural areas are close to previous observations in Lomé, the capital city suggesting that national ART-programme management plays a role in treatment outcome.

Alarming rates of virological failure and drug resistance in patients on long-term antiretroviral treatment in routine HIV clinics in Togo.

Information on efficacy of long-term antiretroviral treatment (ART) exposure in resource-limited countries is still scarce. In 767 patients attending routine HIV centers in Togo and receiving first-line ART for more than four years, 42% had viral load greater than 1000 copies/ml and either were on a completely ineffective ART regime or were with only a single drug active. The actual conditions to ensure lifelong ART in resource-limited countries can have dramatic long-term outcomes.