Mother-to-Child HIV Type 1 Transmission in Argentina: BF Recombinants Have Predominated in Infected Children Since the Mid-1980s

The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Argentina is more complex than was previously appreciated. One circulating recombinant form, CRF12_BF, and many related BF recombinant forms predominate in the capital city, Buenos Aires. This study of HIV-1 subtypes acquired perinatally between 1984 and 2000 has permitted, for the first time, a reconstruction of the history of BF recombination in Argentina. Sequencing of a partial genome region from the beginning of vpu to the beginning of env ^gp120, which spans a breakpoint common in most contemporary Argentine BF recombinants, enabled samples to be rapidly screened. Among 23 children born between 1984 and 2000, 15 including 1 child born in 1986, harbored a BF recombinant. Thirteen of the 15 recombinants shared a common breakpoint at the 5′ end of env ^gp120. Full genome sequencing of two viruses, from 1986 and 1987, respectively, revealed them to be genetically related but not identical to CRF12_BF. Both contained more subtype B sequence than did CRF12_BF. BF recombinants related to CRF12_BF have been in circulation in Buenos Aires since 1986 and continue to predominate in perinatal transmissions.