Durban - Leading clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist, Dr Salim Abdool Karim, says while the newly discovered HIV variant can spread faster than its predecessor, it can be treated with standards ARV medication.
Karim was speaking to eNCA on Wednesday morning, just days after international medical teams announced the discovery of the HIV variant, VB, discovered in the Netherlands.
He said there is no cause for concern. Karim said VB is able to cause more severe infection, but is treatable.
Comparing it to Covid, Karim explained that both HIV and the Coronavirus are RNA viruses.
He said HIV can convert its RNA into DNA and while doing so, makes mistakes, thus causing many mutations.
"We haven't been able to identify individual variants or strains that are presenting and creating a different kind of clinical form and that's what VB does. VB is able to cause more severe infection. Fortunately, it is readily amenable and treatable with all the standard antiretrovirals," he said.
According to reports, those infected with the VB variant have an average viral load that is about four times higher than is usual for HIV infection, and their immune system declines twice as fast, placing them at risk of developing Aids more quickly.
UNAIDS notes that 28.2 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy as of June 30, 2021. 37.7 million (30.2 million–45.1 million) people globally were living with HIV in 2020. 1.5 million (1.0 million–2.0 million) people became newly infected with HIV in 2020.
IOL