Background and objectives: Twenty haemophiliacs were diagnosed as infected with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), 1 to 2 years after exposure to clotting factor 9 manufactured in Korea, beginning in early 1990. This study assessed the genetic relationships between viruses found in plasma donors and haemophiliacs.
Materials and methods: Sequencing of the nef and pol genes of viruses from infected haemophiliacs, plasma donors whose plasma was used in domestic clotting factor manufacture, haemophiliacs infected outside Korea, and local controls were determined by nested polymerase chain reactions and direct DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis was used to investigate the relationships among the sequences.
Results: Both plasma donors and the haemophiliacs were infected with a subclade of subtype B that is a founder effect lineage in Korea.
Conclusion: Our data indicate that HIV-1 transmission to 20 haemophiliacs occurred through intravenous injection of Korean-made clotting factor.
Summary: A clotting factor made in Korea from blood from cash-paid donors infected at least 20 haemophiliacs with HIV-1 subtype B.