The frequencies of naturally occurring protease inhibitor resistance mutations in HIV proviral sequences of drug naïve sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya and their correlation with host immune response driven positively selected mutations in HIV-1

Background Sub Saharan Africa accounts for 69% of the people living with HIV globally. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has saved 9 million life years in Sub Saharan Africa. However, drug resistance mutations reduce the effectiveness of ART, and need to be monitored for effective ART. Naturally occurring primary antiretroviral drug resistance mutations have not been well analyzed in ART naive HIV+ patients from Kenya.