As long as people practise safe sex, there is no need for alarm or panic. This debate may serve to remind people that it is imperative that preventive behaviour continue to be promoted as long as the epidemic is not conquered in every part of the world. Routine AIDS tests which are currently being used for blood screening and diagnostic purposes detect virtually all subtypes of the human immunodeficiency virus. 10 subtypes have been identified in the past four years since the techniques to detect subtypes in HIV-1 were introduced in 1992. It is almost certain that new HIV genetic subtypes will be discovered in the future, and that the known subtypes will continue to spread to new areas as the global epidemic continues.
More research needs to be undertaken.
It is not known whether the genetic variations in subtype E or other subtypes actually make a difference in terms of the risk of transmission, the response to antiviral therapy, or prevention by vaccine. The influenza vaccine has to be periodically modified and updated because of the genetic variations of the influenza virus. The same might need to be done with an HIV vaccine. The information collected is being used to monitor the dynamics of subtype distributions globally and for vaccine research and evaluation.