Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-1 in African Countries: A Comprehensive Overview

Pathogens

Cristina Parolin¹  Massimo Ciccozzi²  Alessandra Borsetti³  Marta Giovanetti⁴ 

[1] Department of Molecular, Medicine University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy;Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, 00128 Rome, Italy;National HIV/AIDS Research Center, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00162 Rome, Italy;Reference Laboratory of Flavivirus, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil;

关键词: HIV-1;    Africa;    subtypes;    circulating recombinant form (CRF);    recombinant;   

DOI  :  10.3390/pathogens9121072

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) originated in non-human primates in West-central Africa and continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed almost 33 million lives so far. In Africa, it is estimated that more than 20 million people are living with HIV/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and that more than 730,000 new HIV-1 infections still occur each year, likely due to low access to testing. The high genetic variability of HIV-1, due to a fast replication cycle and high mutation rate, may cause the generation of many viral variants in a single infected patient during a single day. Therefore, the active monitoring and characterization of the HIV-1 subtypes and recombinant forms circulating through African countries poses a significant challenge to more specific diagnoses, treatments, care, and intervention strategies. In this review, a concise characterization of all the subtypes and recombinant forms circulating in Africa is presented to highlight the magnitude of the HIV-1 threat among the African countries and to understand virus genetic diversity and dispersion dynamics better.

【 授权许可】

Unknown