The molecular epidemiology of HIV type 1 among Vietnamese Australian injecting drug users in Melbourne, Australia.
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.
Ryan
Claire E
CE
The Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, Prahran, Victoria, Australia. claire.ryan@burnet.edu.au
Elliott
Julian H
JH
Middleton
Tracey
T
Mijch
Anne M
AM
Street
Alan C
AC
Hellard
Margaret
M
Crofts
Nick
N
Crowe
Suzanne M
SM
Oelrichs
Robert B
RB
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