COMPARE-HIV
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Comparison Of Molecular & Phylogenetic Approaches to Reconstruct an Epidemic of HIV (COMPARE-HIV)
IRAS ID
174614
Contact name
Jaime Vera
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
BH14ElBouzidi, BHIVA reference number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Around 100,000 people are living with HIV in the UK and up to a quarter of those are unaware of their infection. This is a particular problem in men who have sex with men (MSM) and there are over 3,000 new infections every year in this group. It is important that we understand the source of new HIV infections so that we can inform prevention strategies. In order to determine the factors associated with onward transmission of HIV to other people we need to understand how the virus is being transmitted in the community. This can be done by a process called phylogenetics. This involves comparing the viruses from lots of people to work out how closely related the viruses are and then constructing a network, similar to a family tree. Currently, all patients with HIV have a sample of blood sent to the laboratory and one gene of the virus is sequenced. It is this one gene that has been compared in previous studies in Brighton. However, the technology has since improved to allow all the genes of the virus to be examined and compared, known as whole genome sequencing. In the proposed COMPARE-HIV study, stored samples from 859 patients that have already been studied using the one gene method will have whole genome sequencing to allow a direct comparison of these two methods. This will result in a better understanding of how we can use this new technology to improve our understanding of HIV transmission and influence public health strategies to prevent more infections.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0376
Date of REC Opinion
10 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion