Shao and colleagues have been studying the molecular epidemiology of the different subtypes of HIV-1 present in China (A, B, B', C, D, E, and F). They know that subtype E, which entered China from Thailand and Laos and is present on China's southeastern coast, is transmitted sexually. Subtype B' is the Thai subtype, which traveled from Thailand to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the late 1980s and mid-1990s and infects IV drug users. This subtype is present through much of southwestern, central, and northeastern China. Subtype B (the North American subtype) is mainly found among homosexuals in the large cities. Subtype C, which originated in India, entered China through migrant populations. It is confined to a band of provinces and areas leading from Yunnan in the southwest to Mongolia. Subtype D has been found in technical workers returned to China from Africa. Subtype F is closely linked to the South ...
China Confronts AIDS
Peter Brazutis INTERNATIONAL EFFORT: Yunzhen Cao left the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York last summer to set up an AIDS research lab in China. Her researchers will be trained at Aaron Diamond, whose David Ho is pictured on the wall. Epidemiogical Deficiencies Epidemiological studies in Yunnan Province1 indicate that in some areas there is a high rate of HIV-seroprevalence among IV drug abusers--in some places as high as 85.7 percent. Furthermore, the infected drug users a
Written byMyrna Watanabe
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