Discovery of’highly virulent’ HIV variant’ not a public health crisis’

February 07, 2022 1 min read Source / Disclosures Published by: Disclosures: Wertheim reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors' related financial disclosures. ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .. "data-action " subscribe "> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.. Back to Healio Researchers discovered what they described as a “highly virulent” variant of HIV-1 that has been virulence in the Netherlands for the past 2 decades. Writing in Science, Chris Wymant, PhD, MSc, senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Big Data Institute, and colleagues explained that they were conducting an ongoing study called the BEEHIVE project when they discovered 17 people with a distinct subtype-B variant of HIV-1 with highly elevated viral loads and an increased risk for transmission. The emergence of a more virulent strain of HIV is not a cause for panic, experts said. Source: Adobe Stock. In an accompanying editorial, Joel O. Wertheim, PhD, an associate adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, said the finding “is not a public health crisis.” “Standard public health action — including molecular HIV surveillance, facilitating linkage to care, and partner notification — are still the best options when faced with a rapidly growing cluster of more virulent HIV,” Wertheim wrote. claim of “Super AIDS” in 2005, when alarm was raised over a rapidly progressing, multidrug-resistant HIV infection found in New York that was ultimately restricted to a single individual. ” To expand on their findings, Wymant and colleagues assessed data from 6,706 participants enrolled in another study and found 92 additional people infected with the variant. According to the researchers, the 109 total infected people had a viral load that was 3.5 to 5.5 times higher compared with 6,604 people with other subtype-B strains. They also experienced double the rate of CD4 cell count decline. People with the variant were mostly men who have sex with men (82%), and most were born in Western Europe (86%). “Most of the evolution that gave rise to” “However, our findings may stimulate further interest in whether widespread treatment shifts the balance of the infectious-virulence trade-off toward higher virulence, thus promoting the emergence and spread. of new virulent variants. ” The number of people infected with the variant increased until approximately 2010, after which there is evidence that its spread has declined, the researchers reported. References: References: Wertheim JO, et al. Science. 2021; doi: 10.1126 / science.abn4887. Wymant C, et al. Science. 2021; doi: 10.1126 / science.abk1688. Perspective Back to Top Paul A. Volberding, MD Paul A. Volberding We have witnessed and become almost accustomed to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants over the pandemic. Even now, a new omicron variant is being reported. Fortunately, HIV has seemed amazingly stable by comparison. Although resistant mutant selection under drug pressure is expected and different classes of HIV circulate, often in specific geographical regions, the biologic behavior of HIV and its clinical characteristics have been very predictable. With modest variation, With the recent report of a possible HIV variant that at first pass may be more transmissible or virulent, we are reminded to be alert for change in nature while also remembering that earlier suggestions of more aggressive HIV forms were This report should prompt attention but not an early over reaction. Paul A. Volberding, MD Infectious Disease News Chief Medical Editor Professor emeritus of medicine University of California, San Francisco Disclosures: Volberding reports no relevant financial disclosures. ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .. "data-action " subscribe "> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.. Back to Healio Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20220207/discovery-of-highly-virulent-hiv-variant-not-a-public-health-crisis The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article