Temporal Trends and Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-1 Infection in Taiwan From 1988 to 1998

Eight hundred and seventy-nine HIV-1-infected patients (comprising 46% of reported HIV-1/AIDS cases in Taiwan) were recruited for this study of the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Taiwan from 1988 to 1998. HIV-1 subtypes were determined using a modified peptide-enzyme immunoassay complemented with DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Of the 807 HIV-1 infected men, 68.2% were infected with HIV-1B, 29.5% with HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF)01―AE and 2.3% with other subtypes. Of the 72 HIV-1-infected women, 72.2% were infected with HIV-1 CRF01―AE, 13.9% with HIV-1B, and 13.9% with other subtypes. All of 8 foreign-born, Southeast Asian women and 6 of 7 (85.7%) Taiwan-native female commercial sex workers were infected with HIV-1 CRF01―AE. Fourteen of the 33 (42.4%) heterosexual married men with CRF01―AE had transmitted HIV-1 to their wives, whereas only 1 of 17 (5.9%) men with HIV-1 B had transmitted HIV-1 to their spouses (p <.01). Of 18 heterosexual male injecting drug users, I of 12 (8.5%) with HIV-IB and 5 of 6 (83.3%) with HIV-1 CRF01―AE had had sexual contact with female commercial sex workers (p <.01). Therefore, in this population, CRF01―AE was preferentially associated with heterosexual risk groups, a finding compatible with differences in transmission capability between B and non-B subtypes.