15 Facts About HIV superinfection

HIV superinfection is a condition in which a person with an established human immunodeficiency virus infection acquires a second strain of HIV, often of a different subtype.

Immune responses to initial infection with a particular strain of HIV do not provide protection against superinfection with a different strain.

The effect of neutralizing antibodies is unknown, but it has been shown that individuals with HIV tend not to have a NAb response prior to superinfection.

The finding that superinfection occurs within and between HIV subtypes suggests that an immune response to initial HIV infection provide limited protection against infection by a new viral strain.

Early studies of HIV superinfection analysed these spikes to diagnose cases of superinfection.

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The effect of superinfection on the progression of HIV infection is unclear because of its ambiguous effects on surrogate markers for the disease, such as an increase in viral load or a decrease in CD4 cell count.

Cases of HIV superinfection are yet to be identified in sufficient numbers to conduct detailed studies on the effect of HIV superinfection on the host immune response.

HIV superinfection is distinct from HIV dual infection, where an individual is simultaneously infected with multiple distinct viral strains.

HIV superinfection involves an individual with HIV being infected by a new, phylogenetically distinct HIV strain.

Early reports of HIV superinfection were observed in cases of co-infection with HIV-1 and HIV-2.

Multiregion hybridisation assays are used to identify interclade HIV superinfection by detecting genetic differences between parental and progeny strains.

HIV superinfection has been reported in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa.

Data on the prevalence of HIV superinfection has been gathered from case reports and observational studies, suggesting that it is underreported.

Risk factors for HIV superinfection are not clearly understood because of the small number of cases documented.

Individuals with HIV superinfection were found to have a sudden increase in viral load, or a decrease in CD4 count should be tested for a resistant viral strain to identify the resistance profile of the secondary strain.