This follow-up study on patients identified with HIV drug resistance in 2015 was recently completed. HIV-infected adults that previously participated in the RHINOS study (see also “past projects”) and were either diagnosed with virological failure on treatment, or diagnosed with pretreatment HIV drug resistance mutations, were invited to participate. In an effort to collect accurate surveillance data on HIV drug resistance among Ugandan adults, resistance testing was repeated in all patients with persistent virological failure. We found, that the majority of patients followed up by this study had a successful virological outcome after two years. However, we identified a group of patients with virological failure, predominantly on second-line treatment, of which a large number had dual or even triple drug resistance.

Following this study, the clinical team at the Infecious Diseases Institute (IDI) implemented a specialized clinic for patients with an unsuppressed viral load, which includes a trained team of physicians, nurses, and counsellors. Selected patients are now referred to this specialized team, which can guide each patient according to their personal needs. This individualized patient management concept hopes to reduce rates of patients with virological failure and multi-drug resistance through a very personalized approach. We would like to thank everyone involved in this study, especially Anna Baumann, Christine Sekaggya, and Barbara Castelnuovo.