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In 1998, outbreaks of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were reported in children attending Al-Fateh Hospital in Benghazi, Libya. Here we use molecular phylogenetic techniques to analyse new virus sequences from these outbreaks. We find that the HIV-1 and HCV strains were already circulating and prevalent in this hospital and its environs before the arrival in March 1998 of the foreign medical staff (five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor) who stand accused of transmitting the HIV strain to the children.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nature

Publication Date

14/12/2006

Volume

444

Pages

836 - 837

Keywords

Child, HIV Infections, HIV-1, Hepacivirus, Hepatitis C, Humans, Libya, Nurses, Phylogeny, Physicians, Reproducibility of Results