Manon Ragonnet-Cronin1, Emma B Hodcroft2, Joel O Wertheim3. 1. Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London, UK. 2. Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. 3. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, California, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the recent HIV phylogenetic analyses examining HIV transmission patterns among and within risk groups. RECENT FINDINGS: Phylodynamic analysis has recently been applied to multiple HIV outbreaks among people who inject drugs to determine whether HIV transmission is ongoing. Large-scale analyses of datasets of HIV sequences collected for drug-resistance testing provide population-level insights into transmission patterns. One focus across world regions has been to investigate whether age-disparity is a driver of HIV transmission. In sub-Saharan Africa, researchers have examined transmission between heterosexuals and MSM and between high prevalence fishing communities and inland communities. In the US and the UK, cryptic risk groups such as nondisclosed MSM and the partners of transgender women are increasingly being uncovered based on their position in densely sampled molecular transmission networks. SUMMARY: Analysis of HIV genetic sequence can resolve viral transmission patterns between risk groups at unprecedented scales and levels of detail. Future research should focus on understanding the effect of missing data on inferences and the biases of different methods. Uncovering groups and patterns obscured from traditional epidemiolocal analyses is exciting but should not compromise the privacy of the groups in question.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the recent HIV phylogenetic analyses examining HIV transmission patterns among and within risk groups. RECENT FINDINGS: Phylodynamic analysis has recently been applied to multiple HIV outbreaks among people who inject drugs to determine whether HIV transmission is ongoing. Large-scale analyses of datasets of HIV sequences collected for drug-resistance testing provide population-level insights into transmission patterns. One focus across world regions has been to investigate whether age-disparity is a driver of HIV transmission. In sub-Saharan Africa, researchers have examined transmission between heterosexuals and MSM and between high prevalence fishing communities and inland communities. In the US and the UK, cryptic risk groups such as nondisclosed MSM and the partners of transgender women are increasingly being uncovered based on their position in densely sampled molecular transmission networks. SUMMARY: Analysis of HIV genetic sequence can resolve viral transmission patterns between risk groups at unprecedented scales and levels of detail. Future research should focus on understanding the effect of missing data on inferences and the biases of different methods. Uncovering groups and patterns obscured from traditional epidemiolocal analyses is exciting but should not compromise the privacy of the groups in question.
Authors: Manon Ragonnet-Cronin; Nanette Benbow; Christina Hayford; Kathleen Poortinga; Fangchao Ma; Lisa A Forgione; Zhijuan Sheng; Yunyin W Hu; Lucia V Torian; Joel O Wertheim Journal: AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses Date: 2021-02-08 Impact factor: 1.723
Authors: Margarita Matías-Florentino; Antoine Chaillon; Santiago Ávila-Ríos; Sanjay R Mehta; Héctor E Paz-Juárez; Manuel A Becerril-Rodríguez; Silvia J Del Arenal-Sánchez; Alicia Piñeirúa-Menéndez; Verónica Ruiz; Patricia Iracheta-Hernández; Israel Macías-González; Jehovani Tena-Sánchez; Florentino Badial-Hernández; Andrea González-Rodríguez; Gustavo Reyes-Terán Journal: J Antimicrob Chemother Date: 2020-03-01 Impact factor: 5.790
Authors: Ivailo Alexiev; Ellsworth M Campbell; Sergey Knyazev; Yi Pan; Lyubomira Grigorova; Reneta Dimitrova; Aleksandra Partsuneva; Anna Gancheva; Asya Kostadinova; Carole Seguin-Devaux; William M Switzer Journal: Viruses Date: 2020-04-14 Impact factor: 5.048