NEW STRAIN OF HIV DETECTED IN CUBA

cuba
New, aggressive strain of HIV discovered in Cuba
Scientists have discovered a highly aggressive new strain of HIV in Cuba that develops into full-blown AIDS three times faster than more common strains of the virus. This finding could have serious public health implications for efforts to contain and reduce incidences of the virus worldwide.
Researchers at the University of Leuven in Belgium say the HIV strain CRF19 can progress to full blown AIDS within two to three years of exposure to virus. Typically, HIV takes approximately 10 years to develop into AIDS. Patients with CRF19 may start getting sick before they even know they’ve been infected, which ultimately means there’s a significantly shorter time span to stop the disease’s progression.
The scientists began studying the cases in Cuba when reports began coming in that a growing number of HIV-infected patients were developing AIDS just three years after diagnosis with the virus. The findings of their study were published in the journal EBioMedicine.
Having unprotected sex with multiple partners can expose a person to numerous strains of the HIV virus. Research has found that when this occurs, the different strains can combine and form a new variant of the virus.
When HIV first enters the human body it latches on to anchor points of a certain protein, known as CCR5 on the cell membranes, which then allows it to enter human cells. Eventually the virus then latches onto another protein of the cell membrane, known as CXCR4. This marks the point when asymptomatic HIV becomes AIDS. In CRF19, the virus makes this move much sooner.
For the study, the researchers analyzed blood samples of 73 recently infected patients. Among the group, 52 already had full-blown AIDS, while the remaining 21 were HIV-positive but the virus had not yet progressed. The researchers compared their findings to blood samples of 22 AIDS patients who had more common strains of the virus.
The researchers found that patients with CRF19 had higher levels of the virus in their blood compared with those who had more common strains.
They also had higher levels of the immune response molecules known as RANTES, which bond to CCR5 proteins in early stages of the virus. The abnormally high level of RANTES in patients infected with the new strain indicates that the virus runs out of CCR5 anchor points much earlier and moves directly to CXCR4 anchor points.
Thanks to advances in medical treatment and the development of highly effective antiretroviral drugs, HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. But the researchers caution that patients with the new strain of the virus are more likely to be diagnosed when they already have full-blown AIDS and when damage from the disease has taken a toll.
The researchers suspect that this aggressive form of HIV occurs when fragments of other subsets of the virus cling to each other through an enzyme that makes the virus more powerful and easily replicated in the body.
There are currently 35 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization. Scientists have identified more than 60 different strains of the HIV 1 virus, with each type typically found predominantly in a specific region of the world.

0 thoughts on “NEW STRAIN OF HIV DETECTED IN CUBA

  1. How ironic, this morning I’m watching the news and saw that scientist found a cure to stop hiv. They tested it on monkey and other animals they infected with the disease and it stop the hiv..now they coming with a more agressive hiv virus.
    THIS GOVERNMENT AND THEIR QUEST TO MAKE MONEY… almighty helps us all

    1. Well, Cuba that has not been open to the western world too much…that dem jus a look fi open the door all of a sudden new strain of HIV reach there………….I am starting to doubt main stream media

    2. Cuba use to (don’t know if that is still the case) have one of the lowest HIV infection rates in the Caribbean/world. They use to quarantine one one who was diagnose with the virus (put them in HIV Camps). I find it hard to believe that this country would have such a strain given their strict approach to control the disease. Then again, if they keep all those infected (mostly Homosexuals from the program I saw on TV) in one place, then they will start having sex with each other, giving rise to this deadly strain.

  2. Cubans love anal sex. I have a Cuban friend and that’s all she engage in, Not sure if there’s a correlation but gay men there normally have sex with both man and woman.

  3. well, i do believe they had the cure long time but now the drug industry just figure how to capitalize on it. you here him seh 3 diff ways to sell them product to victims.

  4. I doe believe dis :hoax2 Lie dem ah tell pon Cuba. How dat fi reach desso, when Merika harbor all kinda nastiness and corruption and call it sexual intercourse. If dat new strain neva hit di ‘bath houses’ eena Manhattan inna di 1980s, it nah reach reach nuh weh. I doe believe it :hoax2

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