Important note: Information in this Q&A was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. Can you please tell me how the strands (or strains?) of the HIV virus are different??
There are three major strains of HIV.
M is by far the most common.
O is really only found in West Africa.
N is very, very rare.
These M strain is further divided into "Clades," known as A-K.
Interestingly, the clades are seen in different parts of the world. Type B is the most frequently seen in Europe, the Americas, and Japan.
The differences between the clades are mostly things that you can detect through gene variations, and variations of surface proteins. In general, there are not major differences between how the different clades act, but there could be differences in response to vaccines, in particular.
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