The magazine ‘Science’ announces the discovery of a lineage of the virus that has been in circulation for at least two decades
“It does not represent a public health crisis,” clarifies an expert
A highly virulent variant of human immunodeficiency virus, the virus responsible for AIDS, has been circulating in the Netherlands for decades without anyone noticing its presence. This is the exceptional and surprising announcement that an international team of researchers has released this Thursday through the scientific journal ‘Science’. The finding, described in an extensive scientific article and contextualized in several complementary pieces, describes the case of a hundred patients infected with this subtype of the virus, which is notable for “exceptionally high viral loads, a rapid decline in T cells, and increased infectivity.”
Analysis suggests that this emerging lineage of HIV it probably emerged from around the year 2000, right around the turn of the millennium, but has spent several decades hidden from the radar of the scientific community. The variant has been baptized “VB variant” and, for now, experts argue that the constellation of mutations that it presents in its genome is so complex that “it makes it difficult to discern the mechanisms that cause its high virulence.” The first analyzes of this lineage point to significant changes in at least 300 amino acids, so it seems that the pathogen has made an important ‘evolutionary leap’ with this new lineage.
“Observe the emergence of a more virulent and transmissible HIV lineage not a public health crisis“, clarifies the scientist Joel Wertheim in a complementary article that accompanies the presentation of this finding. “Let’s not forget the overreaction which led to the discovery ofsuper aids‘, in 2005, when the alarm was raised about a multi-drug resistant HIV infection that was progressing rapidly in New York and that was finally restricted to a single individual”, clarifies the expert. In this sense, then, the researcher invites you to read this news as a scientific discovery and not as a warning cry about the spread of this infectious disease.
Effects of this variant
The first analyzes on the recently discovered variant of the AIDS virus suggest that people infected with this new lineage had a viral load between 3.5 and 5.5 times higher than patients infected with other variants of HIV. A decrease in CD4 cells was also observed in these patients, a characteristic sign that is interpreted as a shows ‘damage’ caused by this pathogen on the immune system. Finally, the study notes that “people with the VB variant also showed an increased risk of transmitting the virus to others“.
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The good news, the researchers say, is that all these factors changed after starting antiretroviral treatment. “People with the VB variant had a immune system recovery and survival similar to those of people with other variants of HIV”, concludes the investigation. Of course, with an important nuance. Since this variant seems to be especially harmful to the immune system, the scientists point out that “it is essential that people receive a diagnosis as soon as possible and start treatment as soon as possible.
The discovery of a new variant of HIV awakens a strange ‘déjà vu’ in a world still immersed in a global pandemic caused by a coronavirus that has also spread through mutation. For this reason, in light of this new finding, scientists call for increased epidemiological surveillance of this virus (and its multiple lineages). “This finding emphasizes the importance of people at risk of contracting HIV having access to regular testing to enable early diagnosis, followed by prompt and effective treatment,” said Christophe Fraser, a scientist at the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford. and the Nuffield Department of Medicine. “Only in this way will we achieve that HIV is suppressed as quickly as possible from affected patients and prevent transmission to other people“, ditch.