The global spread of HIV-1 subtype B epidemic

Magiorkinis G, Angelis K, Mamais I, Katzourakis A, Hatzakis A, Albert J, Lawyer G, Hamouda O, Struck D, Vercauteren J, Wensing A, Alexiev I, Asjo B, Balotta C, Gomes P, Camacho RJ, Coughlan S, Griskevicius A, Grossman Z, Horban A, Kostrikis LG, Lepej SJ, Liitsola K, Linka M, Nielsen C, Otelea D, Paredes R, Poljak M, Puchhammer-Stoekl E, Schmit JC, Sonnerborg A, Stanekova D, Stanojevic M, Stylianou DC, Boucher CAB, Nikolopoulos G, Vasylyeva T, Friedman SR, Van De Vijver D, Angarano G, Chaix ML, De Luca A, Korn K, Loveday C, Soriano V, Yerly S, Zazzi M, Vandamme AM, Paraskevis D (2016)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Book Volume: 46

Pages Range: 169-179

DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.041

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was discovered in the early 1980s when the virus had already established a pandemic. For at least three decades the epidemic in the Western World has been dominated by subtype B infections, as part of a sub-epidemic that traveled from Africa through Haiti to United States. However, the pattern of the subsequent spread still remains poorly understood. Here we analyze a large dataset of globally representative HIV-1 subtype B strains to map their spread around the world over the last 50years and describe significant spread patterns. We show that subtype B travelled from North America to Western Europe in different occasions, while Central/Eastern Europe remained isolated for the most part of the early epidemic. Looking with more detail in European countries we see that the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland exchanged viral isolates with non-European countries than with European ones. The observed pattern is likely to mirror geopolitical landmarks in the post-World War II era, namely the rise and the fall of the Iron Curtain and the European colonialism. In conclusion, HIV-1 spread through specific migration routes which are consistent with geopolitical factors that affected human activities during the last 50years, such as migration, tourism and trade. Our findings support the argument that epidemic control policies should be global and incorporate political and socioeconomic factors.

Involved external institutions

Luxembourg Institute of Health (CRP-Santé) Luxembourg (LU) University of Cyprus (UCY) / Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου Cyprus (CY) Tel Aviv University Israel (IL) Center For Communicable Diseases And AIDS Lithuania (LT) University College Dublin (UCD) Ireland (IE) Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) / Catholic University of Leuven Belgium (BE) Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental E.P.E. (CHLO) Portugal (PT) Università degli studi di Milano Italy (IT) University of Bergen / Universitetet i Bergen Norway (NO) National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Bulgaria (BG) University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) Netherlands (NL) Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) Germany (DE) Max Planck Institute for Informatics / Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik Germany (DE) Karolinska Institute Sweden (SE) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Greece (GR) University of Oxford United Kingdom (GB) Erasmus University Medical Center (MC) Netherlands (NL) Università degli Studi di Siena (UNISI) / University of Siena Italy (IT) Geneva University Hospitals / Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève (HUG) Switzerland (CH) Hospital Carlos III Spain (ES) Catholic University of the Sacred Heart / Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Italy (IT) Hôpital Necker-Enfants malades France (FR) University of Foggia / Università degli studi di Foggia Italy (IT) National Development & Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) United States (USA) (US) University of Belgrade / Универзитет у Београду Serbia (RS) Slovak Medical University (SMU) / Slovenská zdravotnícka univerzita v Bratislave Slovakia (SK) Karolinska University Hospital / Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset Sweden (SE) Medizinische Universität Wien Austria (AT) University of Ljubljana (UL) / Univerza v Ljubljani Slovenia (SI) IrsiCaixa Institute for AIDS Research Spain (ES) Statens Serum Institut Denmark (DK) The National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) / Státní Zdravotní Ústav (SZÙ) Czech Republic (CZ) National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) Finland (FI) Zagreb University Hospital Centre / Klinički bolnički centar Zagreb (KBC) Croatia (HR) Institute for Infectious Diseases 'Matei Bals' (IDMB) / Institutul National de Boli Infectioase "Prof. Dr. Matei Bals" Romania (RO)

How to cite

APA:

Magiorkinis, G., Angelis, K., Mamais, I., Katzourakis, A., Hatzakis, A., Albert, J.,... Paraskevis, D. (2016). The global spread of HIV-1 subtype B epidemic. Infection Genetics and Evolution, 46, 169-179. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.041

MLA:

Magiorkinis, Gkikas, et al. "The global spread of HIV-1 subtype B epidemic." Infection Genetics and Evolution 46 (2016): 169-179.

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