title: Molecular epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 sub-subtype A3 in Senegal from 1988 to 2001.
abstract: The global human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)epidemic is characterized by significant genetic diversity in circulating viruses. We have recently characterized a group of viruses that form a distinct sub-subtype within the subtype A radiation, which we have designated HIV type 1 (HIV-1) sub-subtype A, circulating in West Africa. A prospective study of a cohort of female sex workers (FSW) in Dakar, Senegal over an 18-year period indicated that an A3-specific sequence in the C2-V3 region of the env gene was found in 46 HIV-1-infected women. HIV-1 sub-subtype A3 appeared in the FSW population as early as 1988 and continued to be transmitted as of 2001. We also found that HIV-1 A3 is not confined to the FSW cohort in Senegal but is also circulating in the general population in Dakar. Furthermore, analyses of viral sequences from a few other West and Central African countries also demonstrated evidence of HIV-1 A3 sequence in isolates from HIV-1-infected people in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Benin, and Equatorial Guinea. Overall, because of the evidence of sub-subtype A3 in the general population in Senegal, as well as in a few neighboring West and Central African countries, along with the increasing incidence of infection with A3-containing viruses in the Dakar high-risk FSW population, we feel that HIV-1 sub-subtype A3 viruses are important to distinguish and monitor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 651 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Seema Thakore
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Meloni
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sankalé
authors.forename: Donald J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hamel
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eisen
authors.forename: Aissatou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guéye-Ndiaye
authors.forename: Souleymane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mboup
authors.forename: Phyllis J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Kanki
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012675:Senegal; D011477:Sex Work; D013997:Time Factors