title: Patterns of HIV infection among native and refugee Afghans.
abstract: The current study was conducted to explore the origins of the HIV epidemics among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the native Afghans in Afghanistan. Phylogenetic analysis of HIV gag gene from 40 samples showed diverse HIV variants, originating from a number of countries. Intermixing of diverse HIV variants among Afghans may give rise to seeding of infections with rare HIV strains which may pose serious challenges for the treatment and control of infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Amna S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.forename: Muhammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Khanani
authors.forename: Syed H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Abidi
authors.forename: Farida
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Aniqa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.forename: Syed H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000346:Afghanistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*