ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
Molecular transmission network analysis of newly diagnosed HIV-1 infections in Ningbo from 2018-2022
Provisionally accepted
Yue-Qi Yin1
Liu Yuhui2
Jing Zhu3
Peng Shen1
Yunpeng Chen1Zhi-Qin Jiang1Hong-Bo Lin1Hong-Xia Ni2*
Ye-Xiang Sun1*- 1Yinzhou District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo, China
- 2Ningbo Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo, China
- 3Nanjing Jiangning Hospital, Nanjing, China
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Introduction: Understanding molecular transmission patterns is critical for HIV prevention designed with key populations. This study aimed to characterize the molecular epidemiology, transmission networks, and underlying factors associated with HIV-1 transmission in Ningbo during 2018–2022. Methods: We analyzed data from 1,409 newly diagnosed people living with HIV who had successful genotyping. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed, and transmission clusters were identified using 1.3% distance and 0.9 bootstrap values. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify factors associated with clustered, large clusters (≥10 nodes) and fast-growing clusters. Results: Molecular analysis revealed 11 distinct HIV-1 subtypes and some unique recombinant forms (URFs), with CRF07_BC (41.6%) and CRF01_AE (33.2%) as the most prevalent. CRF07_BC consistently tended to form larger, more densely connected clusters, whereas CRF01_AE networks primarily exhibited sparse, fragmented distributions. Molecular transmission network analysis identified 9 large clusters and 12 fast-growing clusters. HIV-1 subtypes were associated with the large clusters and fast-growing clusters. CRF07_BC formed larger clusters (aOR = 7.80, 95%CI: 4.70 - 13.49) and fast-growing clusters (aOR = 6.02, 95%CI: 3.80 - 9.78) compared to CRF01_AE. Temporally, the molecular transmission networks (MTNs) expanded rapidly in 2020–2021. Conclusions: This study elucidates the MTNs of HIV-1 in Ningbo, highlighting the role of subtype diversity and demographic traits in shaping transmission networks. Continuous monitoring of HIV-1 molecular subtypes among key populations may serve as feasible and focused prevention strategies to curb HIV transmission.
Keywords: HIV-11, Molecular transmission networks 2, Transmission clusters 3, Subtype 4, Prevention strategies 5
Received: 08 Sep 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yin, Yuhui, Zhu, Shen, Chen, Jiang, Lin, Ni and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hong-Xia Ni, nihongxia@126.com
Ye-Xiang Sun, yexiang_sun2022@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.