UNAIR NEWS – Bali is one of the tourist destinations in Indonesia with highest number of international tourists. So, there is always a possibility that there are tourists bringing in the HIV-1 virus and transmitting it to the local community.
Based on data from the Ministry of Health, Bali is the fourth highest area of HIV-1 in Indonesia. However, there is no data related to the sub-type of HIV-1 virus and the level of virus resistance until the HIV-1 / AIDS UNAIR Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD) research team decided to study it.
Siti Qamariyah Khairunisa, S.Si., M.Si, a member of the HIV-1 / AIDS research team explained that the result of the study showed major resistance rates in HIV-1 sufferers in Bali was less than 5%. So, it can be concluded that the therapy given by the medical team to sufferers is still effective.
“Research in Bali showed almost no resistance,” said the woman known as Ria.
Meanwhile, interesting result of research was found related to the HIV-1 virus subtype in Bali. Although it is visited by many tourists from various countries, the results of the study showed almost no diversity in the types of HIV-1 virus subtypes in the region.
The HIV-1 virus subtype in Bali was dominated by CRF01_AE at 94.5% and then the CRF01_AE combination with subtype B was 5.5%.
“The CRF01_AE subtype itself is also a subtype mostly found in Indonesia and ASEAN,” she continued.
Previously, research samples were taken in two regions in Bali, Gianyar and Denpasar, Bali. In the future, more samples in other regions in Bali is expected to be collected and further research is expected to reconfirm whether there is diversity in the HIV-1 virus subtypes in Bali as Bali is a tourist destination visited by many tourists from various countries in the world.
Author: Galuh Mega Kurnia
Editor : Khefti Al Mawalia
Reference: Khairunisa, SQ et al., 2018. Genotypic characterization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolated in Bali, Indonesia in 2016. HIV & AIDS Review, 17 (2), pp. 65-74.
