New aggressive strain of HIV discovered -- develops into AIDS more quickly

Published November 29, 2013  FoxNews.com
Verne Strickland / Blogmaster / Nov 29 2013

 

Isn't this pretty? Almost like art, what with all the nice shades of pink and rich blue punctuated with brilliant little green dots. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This vile junk is actually a hybrid strain of HIV-1 working its little butt off to turn into AIDS. It is now only in Africa, where almost all hurricanes are formed, and it is seen as a gift from the Dark Continent to the Americas. Thanks, black folk. We'll try to return the favor someday soon. 

• 
  Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding from cultured lymphocyte. The multiple round bumps on cell surface represent sites of assembly and budding of virions. (CDC.gov)

Researchers have discovered a new, more aggressive strain of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that develops into AIDS much more quickly than other strains, Medical News Today reported.

In a new study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, scientists detailed the new strain as a “recombinant” virus – a hybrid of two virus strains. Called A3/02 – a cross between the 02AG and A3 viruses – the strain can develop into AIDS in just five years after first infection – one of the shortest time periods for HIV-1 types.

"Recombinants seem to be more vigorous and more aggressive than the strains from which they developed,” said first author Angelica Palm, a doctoral candidate at Lund University in Sweden.

So far, the A3/02 strain has only been seen in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, but other studies have shown that recombinants are spreading more quickly across the globe.

"HIV is an extremely dynamic and variable virus. New subtypes and recombinant forms of HIV-1 have been introduced to our part of the world, and it is highly likely that there are a large number of circulating recombinants of which we know little or nothing,” said senior author Patrik Medstran, professor of clinical virology at Lund University. “We therefore need to be aware of how the HIV-1 epidemic changes over time."

Coming soon to a population center near you.