Prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 DNA in Hemophilic Men and Their Sex Partners

Abstract

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)1 DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells to assess in hemophilic men whether any were HIV-seropositive but uninfected or seronegative but infected and in seronegative sex partners of seropositive hemophilic men whether any were infected. Of 40 seropositive men, 38 (95%) were PCR-positive; one was PCR-indeterminate and one PCR-negative. None of 41 seronegative men who used only donor-screened, virus-inactivated coagulation factor products were PCR-positive. However, two of six who received noninactivated products were PCR-positive; one had low T-helper cell counts and died of unrelated causes and the other had seroconverted 11 mo later. PCR with a second primer pair also detected HIV-1 DNA in these two men. None of 25 seronegative female sex partners of seropositive men, including six men with AIDS and seven with AIDS-related symptoms, were PCR-positive. These data suggest that most seropositive hemophilic men are HIV-infected; whether some are infected with defective virus remains to be resolved as does the infection status of seropositive PCR-negative men. Identification of two seronegative PCRpositive men supports the possibility that HIV-1 DNAcan be detected before seroconversion.