Building a Successful Military-to-Military Partnership through Confronting HIV: The U.S-Nigeria Experience.

BACKGROUND: The Nigerian Ministry of Defence-Walter Reed Army Institute of Research partnership was established in 2004 in response to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria. METHODS: Here we discuss the emergence of HIV in Nigeria, highlighting the initial barriers to treatment delivery, and outline the origins of the international military-to-military partnership developed to confront the disease. RESULTS: With financial support from the United States President's Plan for AIDS Relief and Nigerian Government Counterpart Funding, we demonstrate how this program led to a successful and sustainable response in the fight against HIV in Nigeria. We detail the continued value of this collaboration in the form of sustainable treatment platforms, prevention strategies, and research projects, and explore the factors which strengthened, and hindered these efforts. CONCLUSION: The program is a model framework for international military health partnership based on the principles of shared responsibility, country ownership and goal attainment.

Virological Suppression and Patterns of Resistance Amongst Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy at 4 Nigerian Military Hospitals.

BACKGROUND: In resource-constrained settings, plasma HIV-1 RNA quantification has not been routinely available for the monitoring of response to antiretroviral therapy. This study evaluated virological suppression rates amongst patients on first-line ART in four Nigerian military hospitals. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 325 randomly selected adult clinic clients (≥18 years old) on first-line ART regimens at four Nigerian military hospitals. Plasma HIV-1 RNA was assayed using a Roche COBAS TaqMan48 with High Pure System. Virological failure was defined as HIV-1 RNA >1000 copies/ml. Specimens with HIV-1 RNA >1000 copies/ml were referred for genotyping. RESULTS: HIV-1 RNA results were obtained in 322 participants. Two hundred and seventy-eight study participants (86.3%) had HIV viral RNA < 1000 copies/ml, including 273 (84.8%) with HIV- 1 RNA <400 copies/ml. HIV drug resistance genotyping results were obtained in 35 of 44 study participants with HIV-1 RNA >1000 copies/ml. Only 14% (5/35) had no resistance mutations. Of the remainder, 10% (3/30) had no nucleoside analogue mutations while 33% (10/30) had only M184V along with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations (K103N or Y188C). 25% (5/25) of participants failing on Zidovudine had more than two thymidine analogue mutations (TAMs). CONCLUSION: We observed a high virological suppression rate among the study participants. However, a large proportion of virologically unsuppressed clients had identifiable resistance mutations. The study demonstrates that viral load monitoring is feasible at Nigerian military hospitals and supports the current WHO HIV treatment guidelines which emphasize virological monitoring of patients on ART for early detection of treatment failure.

An Evaluation of Selected Populations for HIV-1 Vaccine Cohort Development in Nigeria.

Development of a globally effective HIV-1 vaccine will need to encompass Nigeria, one of the hardest hit areas, with an estimated 3.2 million people living with HIV. This cross-sectional Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved study was conducted in 2009-12 at four market sites and two highway settlements sites in Nigeria to identify and characterize populations at high risk for HIV; engage support of local stakeholders; and assess the level of interest in future vaccine studies. Demographic, HIV risk data were collected by structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. Blood samples were tested on site by HIV rapid diagnostic tests, followed by rigorous confirmatory testing, subtype evaluation and testing for HBV and HCV markers in a clinical reference laboratory. Of 3229 study participants, 326 were HIV infected as confirmed by Western Blot or RNA, with a HIV prevalence of 15.4%-23.9% at highway settlements and 3.1%-9.1% at market sites. There was no observable correlation of prevalence of HIV-1 (10.1%) with HBV (10.9%) or HCV (2.9%). Major HIV-1 subtypes included CRF02_AG (37.5%); G (27.5%); G/CRF02_AG (25.9%); and non-typeable (8.9%), with 0.3% HIV-2. Univariate analysis found age, gender, marital status, level of education, and sex under substance influence as significant risk factors for HIV (p<0.001). Educating and winning the trust of local community leadership ensured high level of participation (53.3-77.9%) and willingness to participate in future studies (95%). The high HIV prevalence and high risk of HIV infection at highway settlement and mammy markets make them well suited for targeting future vaccine trials in Nigeria.

High prevalence of HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhoea among men who have sex with men and transgender women attending trusted community centres in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: Sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV prevalence have been reported to be higher amongst men who have sex with men (MSM) in Nigeria than in the general population. The objective of this study was to characterize the prevalence of HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhoea in this population using laboratory-based universal testing. METHODS: TRUST/RV368 represents a cohort of MSM and transgender women (TGW) recruited at trusted community centres in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria, using respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Participants undergo a structured comprehensive assessment of HIV-related risks and screening for anorectal and urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and HIV. Crude and RDS-weighted prevalence estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Log-binomial regression was used to explore factors associated with prevalent HIV infection and STIs. RESULTS: From March 2013 to January 2016, 862 MSM and TGW (316 in Lagos and 546 in Abuja) underwent screening for HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhoea at study enrolment. Participants' median age was 24 years [interquartile range (IQR) 21-27]. One-third (34.2%) were identified as gay/homosexual and 65.2% as bisexual. The overall prevalence of HIV was 54.9%. After adjusting for the RDS recruitment method, HIV prevalence in Abuja was 43.5% (95% CI 37.3-49.6%) and in Lagos was 65.6% (95% CI 54.7-76.5%). The RDS-weighted prevalence of chlamydia was 17.0% (95% CI 11.8-22.3%) in Abuja and 18.3% (95% CI 11.1-25.4%) in Lagos. Chlamydia infection was detected only at the anorectal site in 70.2% of cases. The RDS-weighted prevalence of gonorrhoea was 19.1% (95% CI 14.6-23.5%) in Abuja and 25.8% (95% CI 17.1-34.6%) in Lagos. Overall, 84.2% of gonorrhoea cases presented with anorectal infection only. Over 95% of STI cases were asymptomatic. In a multivariable model, increased risk for chlamydia/gonorrhoea was associated with younger age, gay/homosexual sexual orientation and higher number of partners for receptive anal sex. HIV infection was associated with older age, female gender identity and number of partners for receptive anal sex. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high burden of infection with HIV and asymptomatic chlamydia and gonorrhoea among MSM and TGW in Nigeria. Most cases would have been missed without anorectal screening. Interventions are needed to target this population for appropriate STI screening and management beginning at a young age.

Evaluation of Performance of Two Rapid Tests for Detection of HIV-1 and -2 in High- and Low-Prevalence Populations in Nigeria.

The availability of reliable human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1/2) rapid tests in resource-limited settings represents an important advancement in the accurate diagnosis of HIV infection and presents opportunities for implementation of effective prevention and treatment interventions among vulnerable populations. A study of the potential target populations for future HIV vaccine studies examined the prevalence of HIV infections at six selected sites in Nigeria and evaluated the use of two rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for HIV. The populations included market workers at sites adjacent to military installations and workers at highway settlements (truck stops) who may have a heightened risk of HIV exposure. Samples from 3,187 individuals who provided informed consent were tested in parallel using the Determine (DT) and Stat-Pak (SP) RDTs; discordant results were subjected to the Uni-Gold (UG) RDT as a tiebreaker. The results were compared to those of a third-generation enzyme immunoassay screen with confirmation of repeat reactive samples by HIV-1 Western blotting. One participant was HIV-2 infected, yielding positive results on both RDTs. Using the laboratory algorithm as a gold standard, we calculated sensitivities of 98.5% (confidence interval [CI], 97.1 to 99.8%) for DT and 98.1% (CI, 96.7 to 99.6%) for SP and specificities of 98.7% (CI, 98.3 -99.1%) for DT and 99.8% (CI, 99.6 to 100%) for SP. Similar results were obtained when the sites were stratified into those of higher HIV prevalence (9.4% to 22.8%) versus those of lower prevalence (3.2% to 7.3%). A parallel two-test algorithm requiring both DT and SP to be positive resulted in the highest sensitivity (98.1%; CI, 96.7 to 99.6%) and specificity (99.97%; CI, 99.9 to 100%) relative to those for the reference laboratory algorithm.