Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Amplifying and Quantifying HIV-1 RNA in HIV Infected Individuals with Viral Loads Below the Limit of Detection by Standard Clinical Assays
Published on: September 26, 2011
Update on the human immunodeficiency virus
F Brun-Vézinet1, C Charpentier
1Laboratoire de Virologie, Université Paris Diderot, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude-Bernard, HUPNVS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris 7, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, EA4409, 46 rue Henri-Huchard, 75018 Paris, France.
Abstract:
At the end of 2011, UNAIDS estimated that 34 million (31.4 to 35.9) individuals were infected by HIV worldwide and that 2.5 million were newly infected during the year. Since 2001, we have observed an increased number of HIV-infected patients in the world, due to an expanded access to antiretroviral drugs. More than 23,5 million (22.1 to 24.8) HIV-infected patients live in Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of HIV-infected patients in France is estimated at 152,000. Two types of HIV cause AIDS: HIV-1 and HIV-2 that are subdivided in groups (M, N, O, P for HIV-1; A to H for HIV-2), subtypes (A-D, F-H, J-K for HIV-1 group M), sub-subtype (A1-A4 for subtype A, F1 and F2 for subtype F in HIV-1 group M), circulating recombinant forms (CRF), and unique recombinant forms in a small number of patients. Virological diagnostic and monitoring techniques have been constantly upgraded since HIV-1 was isolated in 1983 and the first serological tests became available in 1985. This is especially true for HIV-1, the most prevalent worldwide.
Related Concept Videos
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Human Virome
Immunodeficiency Diseases
There are three main causes of immunodeficiency disorders...
Viral Mutations
Retroviruses
