title: An epidemiological investigation to reconstruct a probable human immunodeficiency virus-1 transmission network: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently published studies have highlighted the importance of phylogenetic and phylodynamic analyses in supporting epidemiological investigations to reconstruct the transmission network of human immunodeficiency virus. Here, we report a case of sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 between a man and a woman that marks once more the importance of a tightened collaboration between phylogeny and epidemiology.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe a case of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype B transmission in a stable Caucasian heterosexual couple. The man was 30 years old and the woman was 21 years old at the time of their presentation to the Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases of the University of Rome "Sapienza". The couple reported a history of drug abuse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Phylogenetic analysis is a powerful technique that if properly used can prove valuable in research investigations. In the case presented here, a phylogenetic analysis alongside epidemiological evidence allowed us to determine the most probable source of the human immunodeficiency virus infection. The dated tree allowed us to date the transmission event, the time point, and the direction of transmission based on the phylogeny, which agreed with the presumptive time of infection determined from clinical history-taking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. serafino.sara@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serafino
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. eleonora.cella@yahoo.it.|Department of Infectious Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Reference Centre on Phylogeny, Molecular Epidemiology and Microbial Evolution (FEMEM)/Epidemiology Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. eleonora.cella@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cella
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. claudia.montagna@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. eugenionelson.cavallari@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Eugenio Nelson
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Cavallari
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. pvittozzi@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vittozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Reference Centre on Phylogeny, Molecular Epidemiology and Microbial Evolution (FEMEM)/Epidemiology Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. alessandra.lopresti@guest.iss.it.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lo Presti
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Reference Centre on Phylogeny, Molecular Epidemiology and Microbial Evolution (FEMEM)/Epidemiology Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. giovanetti.marta@gmail.com.|Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. giovanetti.marta@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giovanetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. lauramazzuti@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mazzuti
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. ombretta.turriziani@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Ombretta
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Turriziani
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. giancarlo.ceccarelli@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. gabriella.dettore@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: d'Ettorre
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. vincenzo.vullo@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vullo
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Reference Centre on Phylogeny, Molecular Epidemiology and Microbial Evolution (FEMEM)/Epidemiology Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. massimo.ciccozzi@iss.it.|University of Biomedical Campus, Rome, Italy. massimo.ciccozzi@iss.it.|Epidemiology Unit, Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità- V.le Regina Elena, 299 - 00161, Roma, Italy. massimo.ciccozzi@iss.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciccozzi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification*; D020010:Heterosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D055815:Young Adult