Introduction of HIV type 1 non-B subtypes into Eastern Andalusia through immigration

✍ Scribed by Marta Alvarez; Federico García; Nora Mariela Martínez; Fernando García; Carmen Bernal; Carmen Maroto Vela; Gonzalo Piédrola Angulo; José Hernández Quero

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 62 KB
• Volume: 70
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.10368

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A study of the distribution of HIV‐1 subtypes in the native and immigrant populations of Eastern Andalusia (Southern Spain) was conducted to determine any changes between 1983 and 2001 and to identify antiretroviral resistance mutations in non‐B subtype strains among the immigrant population. The study included 111 native patients from Eastern Andalusia: 94 infected with HIV before 1996 and 17 infected since 1996. A parallel study was conducted on 26 HIV‐positive immigrants from Africa. Subtyping was done with the heteroduplex mobility assay. Resistance mutations were determined by line probe assay. A total of 137 patients were studied: 9.2% had subtype A (n = 12), 80.8% subtype B (n = 105), and 1.5% subtype C (n = 2). Among the Eastern Andalusia population infected before 1996, 10.9% had non‐B subtypes, compared with 23.5% of those infected after that year. The greatest percentage of non‐B subtypes (52.4%) was found among the immigrant population. Resistance mutation K70R was detected in one of the six immigrants with non‐B subtype and M41L in another. There has been a slight increase in the diversity of HIV‐1 subtypes in Eastern Andalusia over the past few years, possibly influenced by non‐B subtypes introduced by immigrants from sub‐Saharan Africa. J. Med. Virol. 70: 10–13, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.