title: HIV-2 infection in an American.
abstract: HIV-2 is endemic in West Africa but rare elsewhere. In the USA there have been 18 reported cases of HIV-2 infection; most identified people have been West Africans. We recently diagnosed the first case of HIV-2 infection in a native-born US citizen, a woman whose serum was found to be reactive to anti-HIV-1 enzyme immunoassay (EIA) when she attempted to donate blood in 1986. Although both HIV-1- and HIV-2-specific EIAs were reactive, the anti-HIV-2 Western blot (WB) was positive, while the anti-HIV-1 WB was positive or indeterminate on different occasions. Synthetic peptide testing was reactive for HIV-2 but not HIV-1. HIV-2 DNA was detected using the polymerase chain reaction procedure. Although she had travelled to West Africa, it is unclear how she became infected with HIV-2.
authors.affiliation: Division of HIV/AIDS, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Polon
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schable
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: VanDevanter
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rayfield
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Holmberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015498:HIV-2; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012747:Sexual Partners; D014195:Travel; D014481:United States