[DOUALA] A team of researchers has just discovered a new variant of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Called VB (virulent subtype B), this variant is described as being more virulent and more contagious than the previous ones.
The press release from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) which gives this information specifies that patients who have contracted this variant of the AIDS virus have a viral load (amount of virus in the blood) 3.5 to 5 .5 times higher than in the case of other variants of this virus; which further increases their ability to transmit the virus.
This document adds that this variant causes a twice as rapid decline in the quantity of CD4 cells (those that coordinate the body’s immune response once morest this pathology) in the body, exposing the patient to a risk of developing more the disease early.
“It’s a huge chance to have effective and accessible antiretroviral treatments. Indeed, a variant of HIV-1 having the properties of the variant described in this article would have had a faster and more fatal diffusion than the historical strain”
Ahidjo Ayouba, IRD
Christopher Fraser of Big Data Institute from the University of Oxford and one of the spokespersons for the research team, told SciDev.Net that “this variant was discovered as part of a study conducted in several European countries to understand the factors of genetic viral load which would have an influence on the viral load of patients”.
“Before this study, many researchers believed that the variation was due more to human genetics, and less to variation between strains of the virus,” he adds.
According to his explanations, the origin of this new variant of HIV goes back to the end of the 1990s in the Netherlands. It has been circulating since the early 2000s in the country, but it is not spreading rapidly.
” In our data, we found one case in Belgium and one in Switzerland; our collaborators found three others in Switzerland. Otherwise, in the public data, there is no sign of this variant outside the Netherlands. But some cases are likely to be missed due to incomplete data”, lists Christ Wymant, the other spokesperson for the research team, also a teacher-researcher at the Big Data Institue from Oxford University.
Christophe Fraser explains this situation by saying that “like all AIDS viruses in the Netherlands, it is on the decline thanks to a prevention policy that includes universal treatment and freely accessible tests”.
Indeed, the study found that the antiretroviral treatments currently used throughout the world are effective once morest this new variant of HIV.
Mutation
For Ahidjo Ayouba, researcher at the TransVIHMI unit[1] of Institute of research for development (IRD) and teacher at the University of Montpellier (France), “this study shows that we do not yet know everything regarding the impact of the diversity of HIV-1[2]its evolution, its degree of pathogenicity and transmissibility”.
“It’s a huge chance to have effective and accessible antiretroviral treatments. Indeed, a variant of HIV-1 with the properties of the variant described in this article would have spread more quickly and more fatally than the historical strain”, analyzes the researcher in an interview with SciDev.Net.
Therefore, we want to be rather reassuring at the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). “There is no need to panic; mutation is what viruses do, and fortunately for HIV, current treatments also work for the subtype B (BV) variant of HIV,” says Lycias Zembe, Prevention Technical Officer at UNAIDS.
However, the latter regrets the fact that of the 38 million people living with HIV/AIDS today throughout the world, 10 million are still not on antiretroviral treatment.
“Immense efforts are therefore needed to reach these people, who are often marginalized and stigmatized, to ensure that they have access to life-saving treatment that also prevents HIV transmission,” urges Lycias Zembe.
According to UNAIDS, approximately 36 million people have died from diseases opportunists since the appearance of HIV/AIDS while 1.5 million people were infected with HIV in 2020.
