Is HIV Superinfection More Common Than We Thought? Observations from Uganda

HIV superinfection (in which a person infected with one strain of the virus becomes infected with a second, genetically distinct strain) is thought to be relatively uncommon. However, estimates of its frequency vary considerably, in part because of the different virologic approaches used to identify it.

In the present study, researchers used a highly sensitive, new ultradeep sequencing approach to estimate the incidence of HIV superinfection in a community-based, heterosexual cohort in Rakai, Uganda. HIV superinfection was defined as the detection of ≥2 distinct consensus genetic sequences that differed from the baseline viral sequences and were located at sufficient genetic distance from the baseline sample to rule out natural evolutionary …