Deciphering How HIV‐1 Intersubtype Recombination Shapes Viral Fitness and Disease Progression

Abstract

Extreme genetic variability is the hallmark of HIV‐1 infection and itrepresents a major challenge for antiviral treatment and vaccine development.HIV‐1 group M dominates the global pandemic. This genetic diversity not only affects viral epidemiology but it is also linked to the mechanisms used by the virus to escape the patients´ natural humoral and cellular immune responses as well as antiretroviral drug´s action, thus precluding viral control. As a result, monitoring the genetic diversity of HIV‐1 and understanding its consequences onviral fitness is crucial to control the spread of the epidemic