How Common Is HIV Superinfection?

HIV superinfection occurs when an individual who is infected with one strain of HIV acquires a second strain. Several cases of such infection have been reported in the literature, but the incidence and timing of HIV superinfection are unknown. Researchers have hypothesized that superinfection might be more common during the early stages of initial infection, before patients have already developed good immune responses to the first infecting strain, but few data are available to support or refute this idea.

In the present study, investigators evaluated the incidence and timing of HIV-1 superinfection among 36 HIV-positive women who were part of a larger cohort study in Kenya. All the women were sex workers and were HIV-negative at study enrol…