A 35-year-old female is referred to the clinic due to persistently elevated viral load. She has been on antiretroviral therapy for almost six years in total and for the past two years has been on second-line therapy. Her latest viral load performed three months ago was 125,391 copies/ml, having been 9,770 copies/ml eight months previously. Adherence counselling was intensified between these two viral load measurements. Her latest CD4+ cell count was 237 cells/µl. As she transferred into the programme one year previously from another programme in the province, details of previous laboratory monitoring are incomplete but her treatment history is outlined in the tables and the graph below [Note the initial second-line regimen was based on previous guidelines recommending zidovudine (AZT) + didanosine (ddI) + lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) rather than current guidelines which recommend tenofovir (TDF) + lamivudine (3TC) + lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) in the case of failure of d4T-based first-line regimen].
Regimen
Dates
Reason for switch/substitution
d4T/3TC/EFV
April 2005 – August 2008
Virological failure
AZT/ddI/LPVr
August 2008 – March 2010
Intolerance to didanosine (vomiting)
AZT/3TC/LPVr
March 2010 – Feb 2011
d4T – stavudine; 3TC – lamivudine; EFV – efavirenz; AZT – zidovudine; ddI – didanosine; LPV/r – lopinavir/ritonavir Question 1: Which one of the following would be the most appropriate action to take now?