Virological failure and HIV-1 drug resistance mutations among naive and antiretroviral pre-treated patients entering the ESTHER program of Calmette Hospital in Cambodia.

Introduction: In resource limited settings, patients entering an antiretroviral therapy (ART) program comprise ART naive and ART pre-treated patients who may show differential virological outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective study, conducted in 2010-2012 in the HIV clinic of Calmette Hospital located in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) assessed virological failure (VF) rates and patterns of drug resistance of naive and pre-treated patients. Naive and ART pre-treated patients were included when a Viral Load (VL) was performed during the first year of ART for naive subjects or at the first consultation for pre-treated individuals.