[Aids caused by HIV-2 in The Netherlands].

In four patients in Rotterdam AIDS was diagnosed, and it was subsequently demonstrated that they were infected with HIV type 2. One of the patients was an immigrant from the Cape Verde islands, two of the others had heterosexual contacts with persons of this area, and the fourth patient was a male homosexual without known contacts with Africans. The Cape Verde islands are one of the areas in which HIV-2 infection occurs, and because of immigration into The Netherlands and in particular to Rotterdam, the possibility of HIV-2 infection should be considered in persons of this population group and their sexual contacts. Furthermore, problems with serologic investigations should be avoided by the application of HIV-2 specific confirmatory assays.