Evidence for frequent reinfection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 of a different subtype.

ABSTRACT: A major premise underlying current human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine approaches is that preexisting HIV-1-specific immunity will block or reduce infection. However, the recent identification of several cases of HIV-1 reinfection suggests that the specific immune response generated for chronic HIV-1 infection may not be adequate to protect against infection by a second HIV-1 strain. It has been unclear, though, whether these individuals are representative of the global epidemic or are rare cases. Here we show that in a population of high-risk women, HIV-1 reinfection occurs almost as commonly as first infections. The study was designed to detect cases of reinfection by HIV-1 of a different subtype and thus captured cases where there was considerable diversity between the f

SUBMITTER: Chohan B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1182664 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature