PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

A Population-Structured HIV Epidemic in Israel: Roles of Risk and Ethnicity.

  • Zehava Grossman,
  • Boaz Avidor,
  • Zohar Mor,
  • Michal Chowers,
  • Itzchak Levy,
  • Eduardo Shahar,
  • Klaris Riesenberg,
  • Zev Sthoeger,
  • Shlomo Maayan,
  • Wei Shao,
  • Margalit Lorber,
  • Karen Olstein-Pops,
  • Daniel Elbirt,
  • Hila Elinav,
  • Ilan Asher,
  • Diana Averbuch,
  • Valery Istomin,
  • Bat Sheva Gottesman,
  • Eynat Kedem,
  • Shirley Girshengorn,
  • Zipi Kra-Oz,
  • Yonat Shemer Avni,
  • Sara Radian Sade,
  • Dan Turner,
  • Frank Maldarelli

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135061
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 8
p. e0135061

Abstract

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HIV in Israel started with a subtype-B epidemic among men who have sex with men, followed in the 1980s and 1990s by introductions of subtype C from Ethiopia (predominantly acquired by heterosexual transmission) and subtype A from the former Soviet Union (FSU, most often acquired by intravenous drug use). The epidemic matured over the last 15 years without additional large influx of exogenous infections. Between 2005 and 2013 the number of infected men who have sex with men (MSM) increased 2.9-fold, compared to 1.6-fold and 1.3-fold for intravenous drug users (IVDU) and Ethiopian-origin residents. Understanding contemporary spread is essential for effective public health planning.We analyzed demographic and virologic data from 1,427 HIV-infected individuals diagnosed with HIV-I during 1998-2012. HIV phylogenies were reconstructed with maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods.Subtype-B viruses, but not A or C, demonstrated a striking number of large clusters with common ancestors having posterior probability ≥0.95, including some suggesting presence of transmission networks. Transmitted drug resistance was highest in subtype B (13%). MSM represented a frequent risk factor in cross-ethnic transmission, demonstrated by the presence of Israeli-born with non-B virus infections and FSU immigrants with non-A subtypes.Reconstructed phylogenetic trees demonstrated substantial grouping in subtype B, but not in non-MSM subtype-A or in subtype-C, reflecting differences in transmission dynamics linked to HIV transmission categories. Cross-ethnic spread occurred through multiple independent introductions, with MSM playing a prevalent role in the transmission of the virus. Such data provide a baseline to track epidemic trends and will be useful in informing and quantifying efforts to reduce HIV transmission.