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Newly discovered archival data show coincidence of a peak of sexually transmitted diseases with the early epicenter of pandemic hiv-1
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Resumo(s)
To which extent STDs facilitated HIV-1 adaptation to humans, sparking the pandemic, is still unknown. We searched colonial medical records from 1906–1958 for Leopoldville, Belgian Congo, which was the initial epicenter of pandemic HIV-1, compiling counts of treated STD cases in both Africans and Europeans. Almost all Europeans were being treated, while for Africans, generalized treatment started only in 1929. Treated STD counts in Europeans thus reflect STD infection rates more accurately compared to counts in Africans. In Africans, the highest recorded STD treatment incidence was in 1929–1935, declining to low levels in the 1950s. In Europeans, the recorded treatment incidences were highest during the period 1910–1920, far exceeding those in Africans. Europeans were overwhelmingly male and had frequent sexual contact with African females. Consequently, high STD incidence among Europeans must have coincided with high prevalence and incidence in the city’s African population. The data strongly suggest the worst STD period was 1910–1920 for both Africans and Europeans, which coincides with the estimated origin of pandemic HIV-1. Given the strong effect of STD coinfections on HIV transmission, these new data support our hypothesis of a causal effect of STDs on the epidemic emergence of HIV-1.
Descrição
Funding Information: The research done by J.D.S. and A.-M.V. in this study has been supported in part by grant G.0692.14, funded by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek?Flanders (FWO, http://www.fwo.be/en/ (accessed on 28 July 2021)), Belgium. V.M.?s work in this study has been completed as part of the ELTE Thematic Excellence Programme 2020 supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (TKP2020-IKA-05). Funding Information: Funding: The research done by J.D.S. and A.-M.V. in this study has been supported in part by grant G.0692.14, funded by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek—Flanders (FWO, http://www.fwo.be/en/ (accessed on 28 July 2021)), Belgium. V.M.’s work in this study has been completed as part of the ELTE Thematic Excellence Programme 2020 supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (TKP2020-IKA-05). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Palavras-chave
Central Africa Enhanced heterosexual transmission hypothesis HIV HIV-1 Origin of HIV Pandemics Sexually transmitted diseases Zoonosis Infectious Diseases Virology SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being