title: Molecular epidemiology of HIV in Israel.
abstract: The aim of this study was to identify the HIV types and subtypes prevalent in Israel among different populations in terms of risk or geographic origin of the HIV infection. A total of 149 blood samples were collected from HIV-positive persons from different risk groups for HIV infection who were living in Israel. HIV subtyping was performed by a V3-based peptide enzyme immunoassay, supplemented by direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction products from the V3 region. Multiple HIV-1 subtypes were shown to circulate in Israel; whereas most of the infections among Israelis and Palestinians were of subtype B, infections among the large Ethiopian population in Israel were caused by HIV-1 subtype C. Occasionally, we found HIV-1 subtypes A and D and a putative B/C recombinant. No HIV-2 infection was identified. Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic tree analyses point at multiple introductions of HIV into the country. The presence of mainly two different HIV-1 subtypes, B and C, in two separated populations in Israel may result in two distinct epidemiologic patterns among HIV-infected individuals in Israel. Subtype C infection among the Ethiopians in Israel opens new research avenues toward better understanding the natural history of infection with HIV-1 subtype C in Ethiopians living in a Western society compared with those living in Ethiopia.
authors.affiliation: Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gehring
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maayan
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ruppach
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balfe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juraszczyk
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yust
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vardinon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rimlawi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polak
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bentwich
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rübsamen-Waigmann
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dietrich
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D006678:HIV / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008877:Middle East / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012703:Serotyping