Honduras HIV cohort: HLA class I and CCR5-Δ32 profiles and their associations with HIV disease outcome.

We identify both canonical and novel human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-HIV associations, providing a first step toward improved understanding of HIV immune control among the understudied Honduras Mestizo population. Our results are relevant to understanding the protective or detrimental effects of HLA subtypes in Latin America because their unique HLA diversity poses challenges for designing vaccines against HIV and interpreting results from such vaccine trials. Likewise, the description of the HLA profile in an understudied population that shows a unique HLA immunogenetic background is not only relevant for HIV immunology but also relevant in population genetics, molecular anthropology, susceptibility to other infections, autoimmune diseases, and allograft transplantation.

HIV Drug Resistance Surveillance in Honduras after a Decade of Widespread Antiretroviral Therapy.

Introduction: We assessed HIV drug resistance (DR) in individuals failing ART (acquired DR, ADR) and in ART-naïve individuals (pre-ART DR, PDR) in Honduras, after 10 years of widespread availability of ART.

Methods: 365 HIV-infected, ART-naïve, and 381 ART-experienced Honduran individuals were enrolled in 5 reference centres in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, and Choluteca between April 2013 and April 2015. Plasma HIV protease-RT sequences were obtained.

Evaluation of a dried blood and plasma collection device, SampleTanker(®), for HIV type 1 drug resistance genotyping in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy.

Whatman 903 filter paper is the only filter paper that has been used for HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping in resource-limited settings. In this study, we evaluated another dried blood specimen collection device, termed SampleTanker(®) (ST), for HIVDR genotyping. Blood specimens from 123 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced patients were used to prepare ST whole blood and ST plasma specimens; they were then stored at ambient temperature for 2 or 4 weeks.

A single early introduction of HIV-1 subtype B into Central America accounts for most current cases.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) variants show considerable geographical separation across the world, but there is limited information from Central America. We provide the first detailed investigation of the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in six Central American countries. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on 625 HIV-1 pol gene sequences collected between 2002 and 2010 in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Belize.

Social network-based recruitment successfully reveals HIV-1 transmission networks among high-risk individuals in El Salvador.

Objective: HIV in Central America is concentrated among certain groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSWs). We compared social recruitment chains and HIV transmission clusters from 699 MSM and 787 FSWs to better understand factors contributing to ongoing HIV transmission in El Salvador.

Methods: Phylogenies were reconstructed using pol sequences from 119 HIV-positive individuals recruited by respondent-driven sampling (RDS) and compared with RDS chains in 3 cities in El Salvador.

Prevalence of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance among female sex workers and men who have sex with men in El Salvador, Central America.

Transmitted drug resistance has important implications for the successful use and management of therapy among persons infected with HIV. We estimated the prevalence of transmitted drug resistance in 145 samples from female sex workers (n = 47) and men who have sex with men (n = 98) in El Salvador. Samples were collected during March to September 2008, using a respondent driven sampling.

Comparison of HIV-1 resistance profiles in plasma RNA versus PBMC DNA in heavily treated patients in Honduras, a resource-limited country.

The World Health Organization currently does not recommend the use of dried blood spot specimens for drug resistance testing in patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART). Therefore, HIV-1 resistance testing using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) may be of value in resource-limited settings. We compared genotypic resistance profiles in plasma and PBMCs from patients failing ART in two cities of Honduras (Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula), a resource-limited country.

Short communication: high prevalence of drug resistance in HIV type 1-infected children born in Honduras and Belize 2001 to 2004.

Antiretroviral therapy has had a great impact on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1. However, development of drug resistance, which could be subsequently transmitted to the child, is a major concern. In Honduras and Belize the prevalence of drug resistance among HIV-1-infected children remains unknown.

Transmitted drug resistance and type of infection in newly diagnosed HIV-1 individuals in Honduras.

Background: Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) reduces the efficacy of antiretroviral treatment and is a public health concern.

Objectives: To gain insight in the epidemiology of TDR in Honduras by evaluating the amount of TDR in a representative sample of newly diagnosed individuals and by determining whether these are recent or established infections.

Study Design: Two hundred treatment-naïve, newly diagnosed HIV-positive individuals representing different population groups (general population, Garifunas ethnic group, female sex workers and men who have sex with men) and different geographic regions were enrolled during April 2004-April 2007.

Prevalence of drug resistance and importance of viral load measurements in Honduran HIV-infected patients failing antiretroviral treatment.

Objective: The Honduran HIV/AIDS Program began to scale up access to HIV therapy in 2002. Up to May 2008, more than 6000 patients received combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). As HIV drug resistance is the major obstacle for effective treatment, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of antiretroviral drug resistance in Honduran HIV-1-infected individuals.

Humoral immune response of dengue hemorrhagic fever cases in children from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

The humoral immune response in Honduran dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) hospitalized pediatric cases from the epidemics of 2004 and 2005 was studied in sera collected from 5 to 7 days of fever onset. A total of 145 cases were included in the study: 40 classified as primary with DHF Grade I or II and 86 classified as secondary; from them, 73 were DHF Grade I or II and 13 were dengue shock syndrome (DSS) Grade III or IV. The highest number of primary cases was found in children < 1 year of age.