TY - JOUR
T1 - Unassigned Complex Unique Recombinant Forms Related to CRF36_cpx in Children Identified in an HIV-1 Outbreak in Pakistan
AU - Abidi, Syed Hani
AU - Siddiqui, Dilsha
AU - Mahmood, Syed Faisal
AU - Siddiqui, Amna Rehana
AU - Nathwani, Apsara Ali
AU - Hotwani, Aneeta
AU - Shah, Sharaf Ali
AU - Khan, Palwasha
AU - Ferrand, Rashida Abbas
AU - Mir, Fatima
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was funded by the Higher Education Commission, Grant No. 5217/Sindh/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2016; Pakistan Science Foundation, Grant No. PSF/Res/S-AKU/Med (488); and World Health Organization, Grant No. 2019/969219-0. R.A.F. is funded by the Wellcome Trust through a Senior Fellowship in Clinical Science (206316/Z/17/Z).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - In 2019, an outbreak of HIV infection predominantly affecting children occurred in Larkana district, Pakistan. This is the largest outbreak ever reported in this age group in Pakistan. In this study, we report two HIV-1 unique recombinant forms identified during the outbreak. Blood samples were collected from HIV-positive children as part of a case-control study to investigate the outbreak. The pol gene was sequenced and used to detect HIV subtype/recombinant forms using subtype, recombination, and phylogenetic analyses. Drug resistance mutation (DRM) analysis was performed to characterize the DRMs in each sequence. We observed the emergence of two unassigned unique recombinant forms related to CRF36_cpx in 15 individuals of the 344 samples collected. Genotype analysis revealed the presence of multiple DRMs associated with resistance to reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The discovery of these unassigned unique recombinant forms in our population highlights the need for comprehensive molecular epidemiological studies to fully understand the distribution and drug resistance patterns to aid control efforts.
AB - In 2019, an outbreak of HIV infection predominantly affecting children occurred in Larkana district, Pakistan. This is the largest outbreak ever reported in this age group in Pakistan. In this study, we report two HIV-1 unique recombinant forms identified during the outbreak. Blood samples were collected from HIV-positive children as part of a case-control study to investigate the outbreak. The pol gene was sequenced and used to detect HIV subtype/recombinant forms using subtype, recombination, and phylogenetic analyses. Drug resistance mutation (DRM) analysis was performed to characterize the DRMs in each sequence. We observed the emergence of two unassigned unique recombinant forms related to CRF36_cpx in 15 individuals of the 344 samples collected. Genotype analysis revealed the presence of multiple DRMs associated with resistance to reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The discovery of these unassigned unique recombinant forms in our population highlights the need for comprehensive molecular epidemiological studies to fully understand the distribution and drug resistance patterns to aid control efforts.
KW - HIV-1
KW - Pakistan
KW - children
KW - drug resistance
KW - unique recombinant form
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140275110&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/aid.2021.0168
DO - 10.1089/aid.2021.0168
M3 - Article
C2 - 35778855
AN - SCOPUS:85140275110
SN - 0889-2229
VL - 38
SP - 806
EP - 811
JO - AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses
JF - AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses
IS - 10
ER -
