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Burmese injecting drug users in Yunnan play a pivotal role in the cross-border transmission of HIV-1 in the China-Myanmar border region
- Source :
- Virulence, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1195-1204 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Injecting drug users (IDUs) are the major risk group for HIV-1 infection in the China-Myanmar border area. There are a large number of Burmese IDUs living in Yunnan (Yunnan-mIDUs) who might be associated with the cross-border transmission of HIV-1. From 2010 to 2013, 617 Yunnan-mIDUs were recruited from three counties of Yunnan, 19.0% of whom were detected to be HIV-1 positive by serological testing. Partial HIV-1 p17, pol, vif-env, and env genes were amplified from the positive samples and were sequenced. Phylogenetic and HIV-1 subtyping analyses revealed that HIV-1 recombinant forms (RFs), including RF_BC (36.4%), RF_01BC (26.1%), RF_01C (9.1%) and RF_01B (1.1%), were predominant among this cohort. Of the identified HIV-1 strains, 14.8%, 9.1% and 3.4% belonged to subtype C, CRF01_AE and subtype B, respectively. Transmission cluster analysis showed that sequences from the Yunnan-mIDUs formed transmission clusters not only with those from Burmese IDUs but also with those from Chinese IDUs, indicating that Yunnan-mIDUs might acquire HIV-1 infection from or spread HIV-1 to both Burmese and Chinese IDUs. Phylogeographic analyses revealed three cross-border transmission patterns associated with Yunnan-mIDUs, in which Yunnan-mIDUs served as the crucial nodes linking the Burmese and Chinese IDUs. These results suggest that Yunnan-mIDUs are a potential viral reservoir for the diffusion of HIV-1 in Yunnan and play a pivotal role in the bidirectional cross-border transmission of HIV-1 in the China-Myanmar border region. More intervention efforts that focus on Yunnan-mIDUs are recommended in Yunnan’s campaign against HIV/AIDS.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 21505594 and 21505608
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Virulence
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.fe51713132f4d33859c5666e9437ffc
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2018.1496777