V3 PEPTIDE ENZYME-IMMUNOASSAY FOR SEROTYPING HIV-1-INFECTED PREGNANT THAIS

Previous molecular epidemiological studies show that at least 2 subtyp es of HIV-1 circulate in Thailand. HIV-1 subtype B or Thai genotype B was associated with an early epidemic and was prevalent in intravenous drug users. Meanwhile, HIV-1 subtype E or Thai genotype A was becomin g widespread among heterosexuals. We studied the HIV subtypes of 161 H IV-1 seropositive pregnant women. Of these, 143 pregnant patients (88. 8%) tested positive for subtype E alone and 8 women (5.0%) had evidenc e of infection with subtype B alone. There was serologic evidence of i nfection with a mixture of subtypes in 7 women while the infecting sub type could not be identified in the remaining 3 women. This result agr ees with previous information that subtype E predominates in Thai hete rosexuals.