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What to know about the ‘new’ HIV strain

December 2, 2019 BY imani leave a comment

What should we know about the ‘new’ HIV strain ‘discovered’ this month? The first thing we should know is that it was actually discovered in 1983, and is part of the family of HIV viruses responsible for the vast majority of cases worldwide.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that existing treatments for HIV work against this strain. He says, “There’s no reason to panic or even to worry about it a little bit. Not a lot of people are infected with this. This is an outlier.” Still, scientists need to know what strains of the virus are circulating so that tests used to detect the disease are accurate.

HIV has several different subtypes or strains, and like other viruses, it has the ability to change and mutate over time. This is the first new Group M HIV strain identified since guidelines for classifying subtypes were established in 2000. It is important to know what strains of the virus are circulating to ensure that tests used to detect the disease are effective.”It can be a real challenge for diagnostic tests,” Mary Rodgers, a co-author of the report and a principal scientist at Abbott, said. Her company tests more than 60% of the world’s blood supply, she said, and they have to look for new strains and track those in circulation so “we can accurately detect it, no matter where it happens to be in the world.”

There are 10 different subtypes in the group M family. Subtype L was first identified in 1983, and then seen again in 1990, both in Democratic Republic of Congo. It was found a third time in 2001, also in Congo.

This is important because it helps scientists accurately detect the wide variety of HIV strains in circulation globally, Rodgers said. That, in turn, helps to prevent outbreaks that could arise from viruses that may have mutated.

“The whole point of what we’re doing,” said Rodgers, “is to make people feel safe.”


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