Who discovered the highly virulent HIV variant? Where was it discovered?
Researchers from the University of Oxford have discovered a previously unknown variant which is thought to have a higher viral load than other strains.
Researchers have identified a variant of the HIV virus in the Netherlands believed to be the most virulent of its kind, placing those who become infected at greater risk of developing Aids more quickly.
The variant, known as VB, is thought to have been circulating in the Netherlands for decades so this discovery does not represent any new risk to the public and instances of VB infections are actually declining.
Researchers also found that the existing antiretroviral therapy treatments used to treat HIV still work effectively against the VB variant.
Who discovered the VB HIV variant?
The variant was identified during a joint study between scientists from the Big Data Institute at Oxford University and researchers from the Netherlands, who published their findings earlier this month in the academic journal Science.
An international project called Beehive tracks HIV samples from Europe and Uganda and in late 2018 discovered a previously unknown variant in 17 people. Researchers found that 15 of those cases came from the Netherlands so scientists involved in the Big Data Institute study analysed 6,700 HIV-positive people from that country, finding another 92 cases of the VB variant.
They were able to analyse historic samples so could establish that the newly-discovered variant was actually decades old. The research suggests that VB actually spread most quickly during the 2000s and the rate of infection is now in decline, although researchers expect that there are still some unidentified cases.
“There are probably at least a few more people elsewhere who have not been detected yet,” said Chris Wymant, lead author of the Big Data Institute study. “By making the genetic sequence of VB openly available, we are allowing other investigators in other countries to check their own private data.”
Scientists hope the discovery will give greater insight into covid-19
Although the scientists who identified the VB variant have emphasised that it represents no great threat to the general public, the discovery does reiterate the risk of a more virulent variant of covid-19 emerging. The VB variant of HIV brings an average viral load that is four times the usual for a HIV infection and the infected person’s immune system was found to decline more quickly.
This offers a counter-point to claims that viruses, such as covid-19, are certain to become more contagious and less deadly over time. Some had suggested that the Omicron variant, which is particularly contagious but has a lower fatality rate than other variants, is a sign that the coronavirus is becoming milder.
Wymant points out: “A lot of people are commenting that Sars-Cov-2 will evolve to become milder because that’s just what viruses do and it’s not in the virus’s interest to kill us off.”
He continues: “We see it go in both directions, becoming more virulent and less virulent. So it certainly shouldn’t be taken for granted that Sars-Cov-2 will simply become milder.”