Infecting HIV-1 Subtype Predicts Disease Progression in Women of Sub-Saharan Africa.

•Subtype C is the dominant HIV-1 strain in the epidemic infecting >15 million.•Women infected with HIV-1 subtype C viruses have slower disease than those infected with A or D viruses.•Long term non-progression is more common in subtype C as compared to A or D infected women.•In CD4+ T cells HIV-1 subtype C viruses are less fit than A or D viruses.•Subtype C virus envelopes function with reduced kinetic rate in both cell-free and cell-cell assays.