Philippines: Drug-resistant HIV strain could trigger new epidemic

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Philippines: Drug-resistant HIV strain could trigger new epidemic

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Drug-resistant HIV strain discovered in Philippines could trigger new epidemic, scientists warn
‘HIV is not done yet,’ says expert as figures show 56,000 Filipinos now living with condition
A drug-resistant strain of the HIV virus discovered in the Philippines has the potential to spark a new epidemic, scientists have warned.

HIV prevalence among Filipinos has risen sharply in the past decade, at a time when infection rates across the world are beginning to decline. The United Nations estimates the number of new cases identified in the Philippines each year has risen by 140 per cent since 2010.

Researchers are concerned a new drug-resistant version of the virus, HIV subtype AE, could be fuelling the epidemic.

The strain is more aggressive, more resistant to antiretroviral drugs and progresses to Aids faster than the HIV subtype B generally found in western countries.

“The HIV virus has the potential to transform itself into a new and different virus each time it affects a cell,” Dr Edsel Salvana, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines told DW.

“There are nearly 100 different subtypes of HIV, with new subtypes being discovered every day.

“Most HIV infections in the Western world are of subtype B. Most of the research that we have on HIV is also on subtype B, though it accounts for only about 12 per cent of all global HIV infections.

“We have discovered that the explosion of HIV in the Philippines is due to a shift from the Western subtype B to a more aggressive HIV subtype AE.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 49621.html
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