Virologic Failure in Different Antiretroviral Regimens Among Pediatric Patients with HIV Referring to a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Center in Tehran, Iran (2004 - 2017)

This study aimed to evaluate the virologic failure rate of treatment for various types of antiretroviral treatment (ART) regimens in pediatric patients with HIV.

The present study was conducted among 75 HIV-positive pediatric patients characterized by the presence of a viral load of 200 or more copies per mL after six months of effective, continuous ART regimen. Therefore, treatment failure was defined based on virologic failure. We designed a questionnaire that included patients’ demographic characteristics, viral load markers, TCD4+ count, antiretroviral regimen received, and the probable treatment failure, along with the results of the drug resistance tests.

In total, 22 (29.2%) children experienced treatment failure. The most common primary antiretroviral regimen was Zidovudine (AZT)/Lamivudine (3TC)/Nevirapine (NVP) (59.2%), followed by AZT/3TC/Efavirenz (EFV) (29.6%). The highest rate of virologic failure was related to the AZT/3TC/NVP regimen (68.2%). In children who used NVP, the virologic failure was significantly higher than in children on other regimens (P = 0.02).

The present study showed that patients receiving ART regimens based on reverse transcriptase non-nucleoside inhibitors, especially NVP, experienced more treatment failure than patients receiving other regimens.