title: Phylogenetic reconstruction of transmission events from individuals with acute HIV infection: toward more-rigorous epidemiological definitions.
abstract: Phylogenetic reconstructions of transmission events from individuals with acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are conducted to illustrate this group's heightened infectivity. Varied definitions of acute infection and assumptions about observed phylogenetic clusters may produce misleading results. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of HIV pol sequences from 165 European patients with estimated infection dates and calculated the difference between dates within clusters. Nine phylogenetic clusters were observed. Comparison of dates within clusters revealed that only 2 could have been generated during acute infection. Previous analyses may have incorrectly assigned transmission events to the acutely HIV infected when they were more likely to have occurred during chronic infection.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, University College London, London, UK. alison.brown@hpa.org.uk
authors.forename: Alison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Gifford
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Clewley
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kucherer
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Masquelier
authors.forename: Kholoud
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balotta
authors.forename: Nicole K T
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Louise Bruun
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Jorgensen
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Mendoza
authors.forename: Krishnan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhaskaran
authors.forename: O Noel
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Deenan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pillay
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D005260:Female; D015751:Genes, pol / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny