title: The molecular epidemiology of HIV type 1 among Vietnamese Australian injecting drug users in Melbourne, Australia.
abstract: The proportion of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) among Vietnamese injecting drug users (IDUs) in Melbourne, Australia exceeds that of the background population. To investigate the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 among this group, the C2-V4 region of the HIV-1 envelope was directly sequenced from 11 Vietnamese Australians and 19 non-Vietnamese Australian controls. A significant difference in the distribution of the HIV-1 subtypes was demonstrated, with greater than 50% of Vietnamese Australian IDU shown to be infected with CRF01_AE-the predominant subtype in Southeast Asia, rather than subtype B, which dominates the Australian epidemic and which was found in 89.5% of the non-Vietnamese controls. The genetic diversity of the CRF01_AE epidemic in Vietnamese Australian IDUs was substantially lower that that of the background subtype B, consistent with a more recent introduction of a limited number of viral strains from Vietnam. These results support public health policy targeting Australian IDUs of Vietnamese ethnicity as a distinct vulnerable population.
authors.affiliation: The Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, Prahran, Victoria, Australia. claire.ryan@burnet.edu.au
authors.forename: Claire E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Julian H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mijch
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Street
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hellard
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Crofts
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Crowe
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Oelrichs
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D015752:Genes, env / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology