Contribution of transgender sex workers to the complexity of the HIV-1 epidemic in the metropolitan area of Milan.

Objectives: Transgender people are disproportionately affected by the HIV-1 epidemic. We evaluated the origin of HIV-1 variants carried by South American transgenders living in Milan by combining accurate phylogenetic methods and epidemiological data.

Methods: We collected 156 HIV-1 sequences obtained from transgender patients engaged in sex work (TSWs) followed between 1999 and 2015 at L.

Local Epidemics Gone Viral: Evolution and Diffusion of the Italian HIV-1 Recombinant Form CRF60_BC.

The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Italy is becoming increasingly complex, mainly due to the spread of non-B subtypes and the emergence of new recombinant forms. We previously characterized the outbreak of the first Italian circulating recombinant form (CRF60_BC), occurring among young MSM living in Apulia between the years 2009 and 2011. Here we show a 5-year follow-up surveillance to trace the evolution of CRF60_BC and to investigate its further spread in Italy.

Acute Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection Presenting With Bilateral Interstitial Pneumonia: Case Report and Discussion of Potential HIV-Induced Interstitial Pneumonia.

A 50-year-old man was admitted to intensive care unit because of acute respiratory failure due interstitial pneumonia; after admission, a diagnosis of acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection was made. Clinical and radiological improvement was observed only after introduction of antiretroviral treatment. We discuss the hypothesis of interstitial pneumonia induced by the acute HIV-1 infection.

Relapse of Kaposi's Sarcoma and HHV-8 viremia in an HIV-infected patient switching from protease inhibitor to integrase inhibitor-based antiretroviral therapy.

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) reduced the incidence of Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS), mainly mediated by the suppression of HIV replication and the recovery of the immune system. The effect of specific classes of antiretrovirals on KS remains unclear. However, both in vitro and clinical studies provided evidences that protease inhibitors (PI) can inhibit Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) replication and reduce KS risk and progression.

Identification of a new HIV-1 BC circulating recombinant form (CRF60_BC) in Italian young men having sex with men.

HIV-1 recombination, reverse transcriptase (RT) low fidelity and high replication rate are the drivers of variability and evolution on the global scale. Only few of these HIV-1 chimeric forms have been characterized in Europe, despite 20% of infections are due to unique or circulating recombinant forms worldwide. An outbreak of BC recombinants has been recently described in a southern region of Italy, Apulia, in men having sex with men (MSM) seeking sexual partners on-line.

An outbreak of HIV-1 BC recombinants in Southern Italy.

Background: In Western Europe, a previously subtype B HIV-1 restricted area, BC recombinants have been rarely reported.

Objective: To describe an outbreak of HIV-1 BC recombinants in southern Italy.

Study Design: We analyzed pol (protease/reverse transcriptase) sequences from 135 newly diagnosed HIV-1-infected patients during the years 2009-2011.

High burden of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance in Italian patients carrying F1 subtype.

Background: Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) is mainly restricted to individuals carrying B subtype, with low prevalence among non-B subtypes when grouped together. Subtype F1 is the most frequent non-B variant found in subjects living in Italy, allowing a specific assessment of TDR associated with this clade.

Methods: We analysed pol sequences of HIV-1-positive individuals carrying the F1 variant included in the Antiretroviral Resistance Cohort Analysis database in the 1998-2009 period.

Origin, evolution, and phylogeography of recent epidemic CHIKV strains.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus of the Alphavirus genus, which is transmitted to humans by Aedes spp. mosquitoes and was firstly identified in Tanzania in the mid 1950s. In this article, the findings of a phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis of the recent CHIKV pandemic are reported.

Transmission of resistant HIV type 1 variants and epidemiological chains in Italian newly diagnosed individuals.

Transmission of HIV-1 and drug resistance continue to occur at a considerable level in Italy, influenced mainly by changes in modality of infection. However, the long period of infectivity makes difficult the interpretation of epidemiological networks, based on epidemiological data only. We studied 510 naive HIV-1-infected individuals, of whom 400 (78.