Scientists find a new aggressive form of HIV | newsmaine
According to scientists, a new aggressive form of HIV could lead to AIDS in three years. The progression will be so fast that patients will not be able to even figure out that they got infected, scientists added.
Having unprotected sex with many partners leads to increased risk of contracting several strains of HIV. As per researchers, these strains can recombine and lead to a new variant of the virus, once they find a host.
Researchers told that one such recombinant variant has been found in Cuba and it seems to be quite aggressive compared to other known forms of HIV. HIV needs to attach itself to human cells and then it enters these cells. Anchor points, or co-receptors, which are proteins on the cell membrane, are used by the virus to do this.
The variant has also been observed in Africa, however in very few cases, which are yet to be completely studied. Researchers said that the strain is more common in Cuba.
According to Anne-Mieke Vandamme, a medical professor at Belgium's University of Leuvan, it takes 5 to 10 years for HIV infection to turn into AIDS, if not treated. Vandamme and her team conducted a study on more than 70 patients. The study has been published in the journal EBioMedicine.
According to the study, Cuban health officials alerted Vandamme about the new aggressive strain of HIV, as they wanted to know more about it.
"So this group of patients that progressed very fast, they were all recently infected. And we know that because they had been HIV negative tested one or a maximum two years before", Vandamme explained to Voice of America.
The anchor point CCR5 is first used by the virus in a normal infection and after some years, the virus shifts to the anchor point CXCR4. And it further leads to a rapid development of AIDS.