Sources of HIV infections among men who have sex with men with a migration background: a viral phylogenetic case study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Blenkinsop, Alexandra
Pantazis, Nikos
Kostaki, Evangelia Georgia
Sofocleous, Lysandros
van Sighem, Ard
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Men and women with a migration background comprise an increasing proportion of incident HIV cases across Western Europe.
Methods: To characterise sources of transmission in local transmission chains, we used partial HIV consensus
sequences with linked demographic and clinical data from the opt-out ATHENA cohort of people with HIV
in the Netherlands and identified phylogenetically and epidemiologically possible HIV transmission pairs in
Amsterdam. We interpreted these in the context of estimated infection dates, and quantified population-level
sources of transmission to foreign-born and Dutch-born Amsterdam men who have sex with men (MSM)
within Amsterdam transmission chains.
Results: We estimate Dutch-born MSM were the predominant sources of infections among all Amsterdam
MSM who acquired their infection locally in 2010-2021, and among almost all foreign-born Amsterdam MSM
sub-populations. Stratifying by two-year intervals indicated time trends in transmission dynamics, with a
majority of infections originating from foreign-born MSM since 2016, although uncertainty ranges remained
wide.
Conclusions: Native-born MSM have predominantly driven HIV transmissions in Amsterdam in 2010-2021.
However, in the context of rapidly declining incidence in Amsterdam, the contribution from foreign-born
MSM living in Amsterdam is increasing, with some evidence that most local transmissions have been from
foreign-born Amsterdam MSM since 2016.
Methods: To characterise sources of transmission in local transmission chains, we used partial HIV consensus
sequences with linked demographic and clinical data from the opt-out ATHENA cohort of people with HIV
in the Netherlands and identified phylogenetically and epidemiologically possible HIV transmission pairs in
Amsterdam. We interpreted these in the context of estimated infection dates, and quantified population-level
sources of transmission to foreign-born and Dutch-born Amsterdam men who have sex with men (MSM)
within Amsterdam transmission chains.
Results: We estimate Dutch-born MSM were the predominant sources of infections among all Amsterdam
MSM who acquired their infection locally in 2010-2021, and among almost all foreign-born Amsterdam MSM
sub-populations. Stratifying by two-year intervals indicated time trends in transmission dynamics, with a
majority of infections originating from foreign-born MSM since 2016, although uncertainty ranges remained
wide.
Conclusions: Native-born MSM have predominantly driven HIV transmissions in Amsterdam in 2010-2021.
However, in the context of rapidly declining incidence in Amsterdam, the contribution from foreign-born
MSM living in Amsterdam is increasing, with some evidence that most local transmissions have been from
foreign-born Amsterdam MSM since 2016.
Date Issued
2024-10-15
Date Acceptance
2024-05-17
Citation
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2024, 230 (4), pp.e881-e894
ISSN
0022-1899
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
e881
End Page
e894
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume
230
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases
Society of America.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae267
Society of America.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae267
License URL
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiae267/7709386
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
jiae267
Date Publish Online
2024-07-08