HIV prevalence and route of transmission in Turkish immigrants living in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany

The high number of Turkish immigrants in the German state North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) compelled us to look for HIV-infected patients with Turkish nationality. In the AREVIR database, we found 127 (107 men, 20 women) Turkish HIV patients living in NRW. In order to investigate transmission clusters and their correlation to gender, nationality and self-reported transmission mode, a phylogenetic analysis including pol gene sequences was performed. Subtype distribution and the number of HIV drug resistance mutations in the Turkish patient group were found to be similar to the proportion in the non-Turkish patients. Great differences were observed in self-reported mode of transmission in the heterosexual Turkish male subgroup. Neighbour-joining tree of pol gene sequences gave indication that 59% of these reported heterosexual transmissions cluster with those of men having sex with men in the database. This is the first study analysing HIV type distribution, drug resistance mutations and transmission mode in a Turkish immigrant population.