HIV-1 subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) from HIV-infected patients residing in two regions of central and southern Italy.
A total of 347 pol gene sequences from 88 Tuscan and 259 Apulian subjects (including 52 non-Italians and 9 children) were analyzed phylogenetically. Forty-four (12.6%) non-B subtypes were found, including 3.4% C, 1.4% F1, 0.8% G, and 0.3% each for J and A pure subtypes, and 3.7% CRF02_AG, 1.4% CRF01_AE, 0.6% BF, and 0.3% CRF06-cpx recombinant forms. An additional sample close-matched the pol gene of an unique recombinant form (URF AGK 99GR303). The non-B subtypes were from 40 adults and 4 children; 12 of these 44 patients were epidemiologically linked. Thirty-three of the 44 non-B viruses pertained to non-Italian immigrants and 11 to Italians, signifying that 63.4% immigrants and 3.7% Italians harbored non-B subtypes. The overall frequency of non-B subtypes was higher in Tuscany than in Apulia (18.1% vs. 10.8%). Moreover, 6.1% and 3.0% non-B subtypes were found among Italians from Florence and Apulia, respectively, while 52.1% and 72.4% of immigrants living in Tuscany and Apulia harbored non-B subtypes. Women infected by means of sexual contact prevailed among non-Italian adults; the majority of Italians were males and admitted high-risk sexual behavior. Four Italians had a history of extensive travel in countries of high endemicity. Social and epidemiological changes are responsible for an increasing circulation of non-B subtypes in Italy. Although non-B subtypes principally infect non-Italian patients, in Italy they can no longer be considered exclusively restricted to subjects from endemic areas.
Monno
Laura
L
Clinic of Infectious Diseases, University of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy. l.monno@clininf.uniba.it
Brindicci
Gaetano
G
Lo Caputo
Sergio
S
Punzi
Grazia
G
Scarabaggio
Teresa
T
Riva
Chiara
C
Di Bari
Cesare
C
Pierotti
Piera
P
Saracino
Annalisa
A
Lagioia
Antonella
A
Mazzotta
Francesco
F
Balotta
Claudia
C
Angarano
Gioacchino
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D015684:Gene Products, pol / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D015684:Gene Products, pol