In Netherlands a new variant of theHIV (the virus that causes AIDS), more aggressive and contagious. The strength of the viral load is estimated to be 3.5 to 5.5 times higher than that of the HIV-1 virus (the most common). In addition, this variant, called VB (virulent subtype B), weakens the immune system twice as fast.
The “good” news is that infected people (109 identified so far) react normally to therapies and have the same survival as other patients, but the aggressiveness of the variant makes early intervention even more important.
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HIV, new variant discovered
VB variant was initially identified in 17 HIV-positive people in the Netherlands. The alarm prompted researchers to carry out more detailed investigations, which revealed another 92 infected. According to the analysis, it appeared for the first time about thirty years ago in the late 1980s and 1990s. Its diffusion in the early 2000s would have been faster than that of the other variants, but then it would have slowed down over the last decade.
“It is not uncommon to find new variants of the HIV virus: like all RNA viruses, it mutates easily, and we see it from its great ability to adapt to antiretroviral drugs, becoming resistant”, he comments Stefano Vella, professor of Global Health at the Catholic University of Rome and new president of the new National AIDS Commission of the Ministry of Health. ‘The Oxford researchers did an extraordinary job in molecular biology by sequencing the viral genomes isolated from HIV-positive patients who had been shown to get sick with AIDS faster than others. Until now – explains the expert – it was assumed that the fastest progression depended on the individual variability of the individual patient, and instead this study demonstrates that it may be due to a new, more aggressive viral variant “.
The risk
The VB variant “does not represent a public health emergency – reassures Vella – but it gives us an important lesson: it dispels the myth that viruses become better over time. In reality, their evolution occurs randomly and it cannot be ruled out that a virus can become even more evil “. SarsCoV2 also gave us a clear demonstration. «After the Alfa variant, the Delta appeared, even more virulent and transmissible. Omicron in turn has become even more transmissible, albeit less virulent. This – concludes the expert – shows that the evolution of viruses is unpredictable and should not be taken for granted ».