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Identification of HIV-1 in semen following primary HIV-1 infection
B Tindall1, L Evans, P Cunningham
1National Centre in HIV Clinical and Epidemiological Research, University of New South Wales, Darlinghurst, Australia.
Objective:
To determine whether HIV could be identified in semen samples during the first few weeks after infection.
Design:
A series of three homosexual men with symptomatic primary HIV-1 infection.
Methods:
Each subject provided a series of semen samples that was examined for HIV-1 by virus culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and transmission electron micrography.
Results:
The first samples obtained for each subject (17, 22 and 24 days following onset of primary HIV-1 infection) were all positive by PCR and negative by viral culture. Of 13 samples obtained during the first 80 days after onset of primary HIV-1 infection and analysed by PCR, 10 were positive. Only one of these samples was virus culture-positive. Four semen samples obtained from two subjects during treatment with zidovudine were PCR-positive. Eight samples were examined for presence of HIV-1 by electron microscopy and one was found to be positive.
Conclusions:
These results indicate that men with HIV-1 infection are potentially infectious through sexual transmission during the first few weeks after infection. The findings emphasize that individuals in all stages of HIV-1 infection should practise safer sex to reduce transmission of HIV-1.