HIV TYPE-2 PATHOGENICITY IS NOT RELATED TO SUBTYPE IN RURAL GUINEA-BISSAU

Data from an MRC case-control study in rural Guinea Bissau suggest old er HIV-2 carriers (aged 55 to 80 years) appear, over a period of 2 yea rs, to have a mortality similar to that of uninfected controls, wherea s in HIV-2 carriers under the age of 55 there is a significantly highe r mortality, compared with uninfected controls.(1,2) Genotyping of vir uses from both groups revealed only subtype a to be circulating, Thus, although putative nonpathogenic HIV-2 subtypes have been described in patients from West Africa,(3) these do not appear to be contributing significantly to the nonpathogenic clinical phenotype in this populati on.