Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

HIV-2 is closely related to, but not identical, to HIV-1. HIV-2 is found predominantly in West Africa, where in some areas it is the predominant HIV infection. In other areas it may occur with less frequency than HIV-1. It has also been found in low frequency in Central, East, and Southern Africa. It is spread […]

The HIVs are retroviruses; their genetic information (genome) is composed of RNA rather than the usual DNA. To reproduce, the virus uses an enzyme known as reverse transcriptase to produce a DNA copy of its genetic RNA and incorporates this material into the host cell genetic material. Some of the copied viral genome also exists […]