Viruses (Jan 2022)
Dating the Origin and Estimating the Transmission Rates of the Major HIV-1 Clusters in Greece: Evidence about the Earliest Subtype A1 Epidemic in Europe
- Stefanos Limnaios,
- Evangelia Georgia Kostaki,
- Georgios Adamis,
- Myrto Astriti,
- Maria Chini,
- Nikos Mangafas,
- Marios Lazanas,
- Stavros Patrinos,
- Simeon Metallidis,
- Olga Tsachouridou,
- Vasileios Papastamopoulos,
- Eleni Kakalou,
- Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou,
- Anastasia Antoniadou,
- Antonios Papadopoulos,
- Mina Psichogiou,
- Dimitrios Basoulis,
- Maria Gova,
- Dimitrios Pilalas,
- Dimitra Paraskeva,
- Georgios Chrysos,
- Vasileios Paparizos,
- Sofia Kourkounti,
- Helen Sambatakou,
- Vasileios Bolanos,
- Nikolaos V. Sipsas,
- Malvina Lada,
- Emmanouil Barbounakis,
- Evrikleia Kantzilaki,
- Periklis Panagopoulos,
- Efstratios Maltezos,
- Stelios Drimis,
- Vana Sypsa,
- Pagona Lagiou,
- Gkikas Magiorkinis,
- Angelos Hatzakis,
- Lemonia Skoura,
- Dimitrios Paraskevis
Affiliations
- Stefanos Limnaios
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Evangelia Georgia Kostaki
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Georgios Adamis
- 1st Department of Internal Medicine, G. Gennimatas General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Myrto Astriti
- 1st Department of Internal Medicine, G. Gennimatas General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Maria Chini
- 3rd Department of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases Unit, “Korgialeneio-Benakeio” Red Cross General Hospital, 11526 Athens, Greece
- Nikos Mangafas
- 3rd Department of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases Unit, “Korgialeneio-Benakeio” Red Cross General Hospital, 11526 Athens, Greece
- Marios Lazanas
- 3rd Department of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases Unit, “Korgialeneio-Benakeio” Red Cross General Hospital, 11526 Athens, Greece
- Stavros Patrinos
- National Public Health Organization, 15123 Marousi, Greece
- Simeon Metallidis
- 1st Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA University Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Olga Tsachouridou
- 1st Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA University Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Vasileios Papastamopoulos
- 5th Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Evaggelismos General Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece
- Eleni Kakalou
- 5th Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Evaggelismos General Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece
- Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou
- National AIDS Reference Centre of Northern Greece, Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Anastasia Antoniadou
- 4th Department of Medicine, Attikon University General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece
- Antonios Papadopoulos
- 4th Department of Medicine, Attikon University General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece
- Mina Psichogiou
- 1st Department of Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Dimitrios Basoulis
- 1st Department of Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Maria Gova
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Dimitrios Pilalas
- Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Dimitra Paraskeva
- Department of Internal Medicine, Tzaneio General Hospital, 18536 Piraeus, Greece
- Georgios Chrysos
- Department of Internal Medicine, Tzaneio General Hospital, 18536 Piraeus, Greece
- Vasileios Paparizos
- HIV/AIDS Unit, A. Syngros Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology, 16121 Athens, Greece
- Sofia Kourkounti
- HIV/AIDS Unit, A. Syngros Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology, 16121 Athens, Greece
- Helen Sambatakou
- HIV Unit, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Vasileios Bolanos
- HIV Unit, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Nikolaos V. Sipsas
- Department of Pathophysiology, Laikon General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Malvina Lada
- 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Sismanogleion General Hospital, 15126 Marousi, Greece
- Emmanouil Barbounakis
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Heraklion “PAGNI”, Medical School, University of Crete, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
- Evrikleia Kantzilaki
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Heraklion “PAGNI”, Medical School, University of Crete, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
- Periklis Panagopoulos
- Department of Internal Medicine, University General Hospital, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
- Efstratios Maltezos
- Department of Internal Medicine, University General Hospital, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
- Stelios Drimis
- Department of Internal Medicine, Tzaneio General Hospital, 18536 Piraeus, Greece
- Vana Sypsa
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Pagona Lagiou
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Gkikas Magiorkinis
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Angelos Hatzakis
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- Lemonia Skoura
- National AIDS Reference Centre of Northern Greece, Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Dimitrios Paraskevis
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/v14010101
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 1
p. 101
Abstract
Our aim was to estimate the date of the origin and the transmission rates of the major local clusters of subtypes A1 and B in Greece. Phylodynamic analyses were conducted in 14 subtype A1 and 31 subtype B clusters. The earliest dates of origin for subtypes A1 and B were in 1982.6 and in 1985.5, respectively. The transmission rate for the subtype A1 clusters ranged between 7.54 and 39.61 infections/100 person years (IQR: 9.39, 15.88), and for subtype B clusters between 4.42 and 36.44 infections/100 person years (IQR: 7.38, 15.04). Statistical analysis revealed that the average difference in the transmission rate between the PWID and the MSM clusters was 6.73 (95% CI: 0.86 to 12.60; p = 0.026). Our study provides evidence that the date of introduction of subtype A1 in Greece was the earliest in Europe. Transmission rates were significantly higher for PWID than MSM clusters due to the conditions that gave rise to an extensive PWID HIV-1 outbreak ten years ago in Athens, Greece. Transmission rate can be considered as a valuable measure for public health since it provides a proxy of the rate of epidemic growth within a cluster and, therefore, it can be useful for targeted HIV prevention programs.
Keywords
- human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- molecular epidemiology
- phylodynamic analysis
- date of origin
- transmission rate
- transmission clusters
