New HIV Strain Causes Faster AIDS Progression
Researchers have discovered a new HIV strain in West Africa that is more aggressive and can cause a much faster progression to AIDS. Scientists from the Lund University in Sweden have reported that the virus called A3/02 is a fusion between two of the most common types of HIV found particularly in Guinea-Bissau.
The scientists have concluded that people infected with the new form of the virus develop AIDS within a five year period. This is two to two and a half years faster than either of the strains that form the virus.
The data is based on a long term study conducted on HIV positive people in Guinea Bissau. New forms of the virus are created when a person is infected with both strains, allowing the DNA to fuse and create a new, deadlier form of HIV.
The recombinant virus as it is called has been proven by numerous studies to be more aggressive and far more active than any previous forms. The one good news is that so far it responds equally well to available medicine.
The same research team has warned that recombinant viruses that we still have not discovered and that we know little in regards to how they act can spread very vast, especially in regions such as Western Europe or the U.S.A due to high immigration.