HIV-1 phylodynamic analysis among people who inject drugs in Pakistan correlates with trends in illicit opioid trade.

ABSTRACT: Pakistan is considered by the World Health Organization to currently have a "concentrated" HIV-1 epidemic due to a rapid rise in infections among people who inject drugs (PWID). Prevalence among the country's nearly 105,000 PWID is estimated to be 37.8% but has been shown to be higher in several large urban centers. A lack of public health resources, the common use of professional injectors and unsafe injection practices are believed to have fueled the outbreak. Here we evaluate the molecular characteristics of HIV-1 sequences (n = 290) from PWID in several Pakistani cities to examine transmission dynamics and the association between rates of HIV-1 transmission with regards to regional trends in opioid trafficking. Tip-to-tip (patristic) distance based phylogenetic cluster inferences and B

SUBMITTER: Cholette F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7454939 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature