The epidemic caused by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), dominated in the West by subtype B of the pathogen, spread on a sinister journey that began in Africa, made a stop in Haiti and conquered the United States in early 1990. the 70s. What was not very well known, until now, is how it spread to the rest of North America, Europe and Australia , a gap that attempts to fill a study carried out by an international group of scientists from the European Society for Translational Antiviral Research (ESAR). It is published in the Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of Infectious Diseases .
After analyzing almost 9,000 genomes of HIV-1 subtype B strains from 78 countries, researchers have drawn a path that reflects the social and political events of the last half century . Dimitrios Paraskevi, co-lead author of the study and adjunct professor in the Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics at the University of Athens (Greece), explains: “There is a clear separation between Eastern and Western Europe in the early days of the virus , which it probably has to do with the political situation on the continent. The different strains of Eastern and Western Europe connected during the 1990s, when migratory movements were less restricted. “
A relevant result is that Poland and the Czech Republic were the eastern countries whose strains were most connected with Western Europe . As regards Poland, this could be explained because it was the first nation to cut its ties with the Eastern Bloc, while the case of the Czech Republic could be due to its central geographical position within Europe. There is also a great viral interconnection of Portugal, Spain and Germany with other countries, possibly as a result of tourist flows or the high number of infections among their population .
As Roger Paredes, a researcher at the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute and a participant in the study, points out, his conclusions show “that epidemics do not understand borders . So if we want to end AIDS we will also need to act on a global scale, especially in low-income countries where the majority of HIV-infected people live and where drug-resistant viruses are currently being transmitted. ” The study shows a great diversity of strains in Europe , he continues, because “Europeans travel a lot but tend to stay and be treated on their continent, where they enjoy good health systems.”
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