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Has anyone seen this news about how AIDs may be mutating to a more aggresive strain?  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




I might be late to the party on this one, but the story is sobering:

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/02/16/scientists-find-new-aggressive-strain-hiv-in-cuba/?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obnetwork
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

God I hope it never finds its way to Dallas. That would just about do it for civilization.


Too soon?

   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut




Hiding behind terrain

Surely the mutation is a blessing in disguise. If it shows symptoms quicker thats less time people unknowingly spread it. I thought the primary thing that made AIDS so deadly was that it has such a long incubation period?
   
Made in us
Shas'ui with Bonding Knife





Dropbear Victim wrote:
Surely the mutation is a blessing in disguise. If it shows symptoms quicker thats less time people unknowingly spread it. I thought the primary thing that made AIDS so deadly was that it has such a long incubation period?


Uh, the primary thing that makes it so deadly is that it ravages your immune system, and there's no cure. That second one being the real crux of the disease.

AIDS doesn't kill you, but your body's inability to fight off the common cold, or pneumonia, after it goes Attila the Hun on your cell count, etc. is what does.


The long incubation period is what leads to it's fairly pervasive spreading, because you may be infected for a comparatively long time without knowing it. As lots of people (certainly not all, but lots) that get AIDS engage in risky behaviors (whether due to lack of education in some places, or just risky behavior period), it's likely that such behaviors in many cases will continue, passing the virus on, etc.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/17 00:44:18


 daedalus wrote:

I mean, it's Dakka. I thought snide arguments from emotion were what we did here.


 
   
Made in th
Regular Dakkanaut





 Haight wrote:
Dropbear Victim wrote:
Surely the mutation is a blessing in disguise. If it shows symptoms quicker thats less time people unknowingly spread it. I thought the primary thing that made AIDS so deadly was that it has such a long incubation period?


Uh, the primary thing that makes it so deadly is that it ravages your immune system, and there's no cure. That second one being the real crux of the disease.

AIDS doesn't kill you, but your body's inability to fight off the common cold, or pneumonia, after it goes Attila the Hun on your cell count, etc. is what does.


The long incubation period is what leads to it's fairly pervasive spreading, because you may be infected for a comparatively long time without knowing it. As lots of people (certainly not all, but lots) that get AIDS engage in risky behaviors (whether due to lack of education in some places, or just risky behavior period), it's likely that such behaviors in many cases will continue, passing the virus on, etc.


Actually he made a good point. It is a "blessing in disguise". I think you understand his point, if not....

If average HIV person infect others before they know they have AIDS because they have no symptom is 1 person a year and it takes 7 years for HIV to form AIDS... They that person would infect 7 people.

This Cuban strain...takes only 3 years...so the average would be 3 infection before being detected.

If only the infection show symptom really fast like " zombie virus" AIDS would have vanish a while back, but shorter life for the infected.

KMFDM 
   
Made in us
Steadfast Grey Hunter




Greater Portland Petting Zoo

HIV, by its nature, mutates at an obserdly quick rate, which is why it's such a pain in the ass. As far as your average person is concerned, this is sorta non-news. It isn't hugely relevant which strain of HIV you get, as you're screwed no matter what it is.
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

It appears the only way to get this variant of AIDS is in laymans terms to get AIDS twice.

A recombinant strain doesn't really change an existing outcome, just speeds it up a little.

n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in us
Last Remaining Whole C'Tan






Pleasant Valley, Iowa

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
God I hope it never finds its way to Dallas. That would just about do it for civilization.


Too soon?


9/30/14, never forget.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.

 Flinty wrote:
The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
 
   
Made in us
Kid_Kyoto






Probably work

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
God I hope it never finds its way to Dallas. That would just about do it for civilization.


Too soon?


There's no civilization in Texas...

Assume all my mathhammer comes from here: https://github.com/daed/mathhammer 
   
Made in gb
Courageous Space Marine Captain






Glasgow, Scotland

I can see what Dropbear means. Less time to unknowingly infect others.

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Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

And Da Kommie plot is finally revealed.

Wow, people still get AIDS?

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
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Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Leerstetten, Germany

Weird article, and I'm trying to figure out if it was actually written by someone who knows the science or if it is a lay-person's interpretation of a scientific article.

The biggest things that jumped out at me was this:

In a normal HIV infection, the virus attaches to proteins on the membranes of cells known as CCR5 before it is able to penetrate the cell. The HIV-infected patient may experience a number of healthy years before the virus becomes CXCR4, which quickly progresses to AIDS, according to the report.

In the new Cuban strain, researchers found that HIV makes the transition to CXCR4 more quickly than in the other strains, resulting in a shorter number of “healthy” years. The new strain can cause AIDS to appear within just three years of infection, Medical News Today reported.


HIV never becomes CXCR4. CCR5 and CXCR4 are both receptor sites where HIV attaches to T-cells, and HIV has always attached to both. The virus really doesn't change from one site, then to the next, then becomes AIDS, and then you die. HIV attaches to whatever it attaches to, and it might have a higher affinity to one receptor over the other although usually both are co-receptors, and reproduces in that cell which kills it in the process. It's that cell death, not the specific attachment to either receptor site, that eventually causes you to progress into AIDS. Some viruses prefer CCR5, some prefer CXCR4, and some viruses are able to attach to both.

So like I said, that choice of words in the article makes it a bit suspect. The article refers to a different article on a site called Medical News Today, and it seems that that article manages to correctly state that CXCR4 is a receptor site used by HIV and doesn't state that HIV becomes CXCR4. It does go on to state that HIV first uses one site, then the other, and that a faster switch is the cause for faster progression. The site does however link to the original source: an article in EBioMedicine.

Best I could tell is that the "earlier switch" doesn't refer to the virus itself switching during the infection, but an "earlier switch" in the genetic makeup prior to the current infection. The final conclusion of the study is summarized as:

We propose that an evolutionary very fit CRF19_cpx together with co-infections is linked to the increase of rapid progression to AIDS in newly infected patients in Cuba. The robust and significant associations with a fitter protease, more circulating virus, higher immune-activation and CXCR4 co-receptor use suggest that CRF19_cpx may be a more pathogenic virus.


Sounds like less of a super-virus, and more like a case of "bad mix of viruses". It's not a completely new phenomenon, and it is something that the medical community has been fighting for a while in the HIV community. There are instances where HIV positive people have unprotected sex with each other thinking "I already have HIV, so I can't get infected again", but they don't understand that there are many different types of HIV and that they can combine to create a virus that makes them sicker quicker. So instead of getting AIDS in 10 years they get AIDS in 5 years. They may also be infected with one of the CCR5 using viruses, which is very responsive to medications that targed the CCR5 site to block attachment, and end up with a co-infection that uses the CXCR4 site which makes their medication a lot less effective.

The study needs a lot of follow up, and while it is pretty interesting it doesn't really jump out at me as a big threat at this time.
   
 
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