Novel fast-spreading HIV variant accelerates immune system decline

A more transmissible and damaging sub-type of HIV, has been isolated, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

People living with the newly revealed subtype, experience double the rate of immune system decline (measured by the CD4 count level of infection-busting T cells) and have higher viral loads.

They are vulnerable to developing AIDS two to three times faster after diagnosis, than if they were living with other strains of the virus.

A research in the Netherlands also revealed that the variant has been circulating in the Netherlands for years and remains receptive to treatment.

The study, led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute, is the first to report on the subtype-B of the virus.

Persons affected are two to three times as vulnerable to developing AIDS after diagnosis, than if they were living with other strains of the virus, UNAIDS stated.

The research also revealed that the variant has been circulating in the Netherlands for years and remains receptive to treatment.

The study, led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute, is the first to report on the subtype-B of the virus.

According to UNAIDS, the discovery highlights the urgency to “halt the pandemic and reach all and reach all with testing and treatment”. 

The long-running HIV pandemic continues to take a life every minute and scientists have long worried about the evolution of new, more transmissible, variants of the virus. 

UNAIDS said the newly identified variant does not represent a major public health threat but underscores the urgency of speeding up the UN’s drive to end AIDS. 

In a statement, the UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Eamonn Murphy, noted that around 10 million people living with HIV are still not on antiretroviral therapy, “fuelling the continued spread of the virus and potential for further variants.”

“We urgently need to deploy cutting-edge medical innovations in ways that reach the communities most in need. Whether it’s HIV treatment or COVID-19 vaccines, inequalities in access are perpetuating pandemics in ways that harm us all”, he said.