Stevens - Johnson syndrome due to nevirapine.

A 25-year-old HIV-infected woman participating in a study of the effects of hormonal contraception on HIV disease progression was started on antiretroviral therapy-Combivir & Nevirapine (NVP) on May 27, 2004. NVP was 200mg daily initially for two weeks to be increased to 200mg bid thereafter. On day twelve, she presented with a mild skin rash on the trunk, purulent conjunctivitis, pharyngitis and fever. She was treated symptomatically and sent home. The following day she returned with a generalized erythematous eruption. She was admitted to JCRC (Joint Clinical and Research Centre) on June 14 and was diagnosed with Stevens - Johnson syndrome (SJS). Antiretroviral therapy was stopped. By July 05, 2004, she had improved and was discharged. After recovery she was restarted on Combivir and Efavirenz and is subsequently doing well on this regimen.

Resistance to antiretroviral therapy among patients in Uganda.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize HIV-1 phenotypic resistance patterns and genotypic mutations among patients taking antiretroviral medications in Uganda. METHODS: We reviewed charts and retrieved archived plasma specimens from patients at an AIDS specialty center in Uganda where antiretroviral therapy has been used since 1996. Phenotypic and genotypic resistance testing was done on specimens associated with a viral load of 1000 copies/ml. RESULTS: Resistance testing of specimens was completed for 16 patients. Among 11 specimens collected before initiation of antiretroviral therapy, no phenotypic resistance or primary genotypic mutations were found. Among 8 patients taking lamivudine, phenotypic resistance was found for 9 (90%) of 10 specimens and was associated with an M184V mutation in all nine cases. Among 12 patients taking zidovudine, no phenotypic resistance and few primary mutations were found. For 6 patients who were receiving protease inhibitors, we observed no phenotypic resistance and only one primary genotypic mutation associated with resistance. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of apparent resistance among samples collected before antiretroviral therapy supports the notion that a similar approach to selection of antiretroviral therapy can generally be used against non-B subtypes. A genotypic marker of antiretroviral resistance to lamivudine in HIV-1 subtypes A, C, and D was similar to those in subtype B infections. These results suggest that the methods used for monitoring for the emergence of drug resistance in antiretroviral programs in Africa may be similar to those used in developed settings.