Details on the 3-DCR HIV NYC Case Cluster
Recombinomics Commentary
February 13, 2005
>> "A lot of people are asking for data that we either have not disclosed or we are working on," Dr. Ho said. <<
It sounds like much more is known than has been made public in the New York City 3-DCR HIV case cluster. Right now there is a three person cluster with a San Diego man linked by viral genetics and a New York City man linked via an encounter in October. Since the NYC man is not cooperating, it sounds as though he is HIV positive, but sequence information is not available. Although sequence information is available on the San Diego man, there has been no comment on contact between the San Diego man and either of the New York men.
Since there is a sequence, it sounds like this virus is rare in the United States. It has already been described as unlike other strains circulating in NYC. It also sounds like it is rare in California, which is why the San Diego man is of interest.
The obvious questions relate to the health of the other two men. Do they have full blown AIDS, how long have they been HIV positive, and how long have they been treated with an HIV cocktail?
It sounds like contact tracing on the second NYC man will be difficult. However, contact tracing of the San Diego man may be just as informative as the original NYC man, because the San Diego man has been infected longer, so infected partners may have been infected with the 3-DCR strain longer.
Since most of this information was known before the press conference was called on Friday, it sounds like there are more reasons to be alarmed than not.
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