View Full Version : New Deadlier HIV Strain
New York City doctors have discovered a man with a previously unseen strain of HIV that is resistant to three of the four types of anti-viral drugs that combat the disease, and progresses from infection to full-blown AIDS in two or three months, the health department said.
``We've identified this strain of HIV that is difficult or impossible to treat and which appears to progress rapidly to AIDS,'' said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. ``We have not seen a case like this before. It holds the potential for a very serious public health problem.''
The case was diagnosed in a New Yorker in his mid-40s who reported multiple male sex partners and unprotected anal sex -- often while using the drug crystal methamphetamine.
``It is likely there are others infected with this strain and this individual has infected others,'' Frieden said. The case is ``extremely concerning and a wake-up call,'' he said.
3 months, 20 at the outside, from infection to full blown AIDS. Now that's scary, and this may just be the tip of the iceberg, as there are likely more people infected with this strain.
Story Here (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=azBO_AumTJhs)
MorWired
02-11-2005, 10:55 PM
New York City doctors have discovered a man with a previously unseen strain of HIV that is resistant to three of the four types of anti-viral drugs that combat the disease, and progresses from infection to full-blown AIDS in two or three months, the health department said.
``We've identified this strain of HIV that is difficult or impossible to treat and which appears to progress rapidly to AIDS,'' said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. ``We have not seen a case like this before. It holds the potential for a very serious public health problem.''
The case was diagnosed in a New Yorker in his mid-40s who reported multiple male sex partners and unprotected anal sex -- often while using the drug crystal methamphetamine.
``It is likely there are others infected with this strain and this individual has infected others,'' Frieden said. The case is ``extremely concerning and a wake-up call,'' he said.
3 months, 20 at the outside, from infection to full blown AIDS. Now that's scary, and this may just be the tip of the iceberg, as there are likely more people infected with this strain.
Story Here (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=azBO_AumTJhs)
I wonder whether this will shake people out of the complacency that has been in evidence the last few years. All this research and treatments are a wonderful thing, but at the same time people seem to see the progress as a "cure" and have forgotten how dangerous this disease is -- carefulness and responsibility have been replaced by recklessness and denial. We appear to have a very short attention span. :(
Frieden said the one drug the HIV strain isn't resistant to is Enfuvirtide, sold under the trade name Fuzeon, developed by Trimeris Inc. of Durham, North Carolina, and Roche Holding AG of Switzerland. Trimeris stock closed at $13.60, up 86 cents or 6.75 percent, in composite trading on the Nasdaq, the biggest single- day percentage gain since Sept. 10. The news ``is probably positive for Trimeris,'' said Sharon Seiler, a biotech analyst with New York-based Punk, Ziegel & Co., which she said owns no shares in the company, though it does act as a market maker. Fuzeon's required twice-daily injections and the need to mix the solution for 20 minutes ``have been significant impediments to the drug's sales'' in two years on the market, she said.
Ok, I know I should believe there is a new strain, but I'm having a hard time with it.
Ok, I know I should believe there is a new strain, but I'm having a hard time with it.
CT Cyd? Why would it be hard to believe that the least used drug is the only one this mutated strain isn't resistant to?
I have no doubt there would be new strains popping up....that's what virus' do, they mutate. I also have no doubt that stories are put out to push up profits, that's what corporations do, they mutate the truth. So, I guess until we have more than one case....I'll just have to say I have no idea what the truth is.
Edit: the corporations don't do that, the people in charge or those who hold stock do it. :)
Copzilla
02-12-2005, 01:28 PM
Well, one thing is almost certain. If this new strain is real, our AIDS problem is about to be over very quickly.
The strain has been detected in only one case, there is "no evidence" that the virus is "readily transmissible" and scientists are still uncertain if the man might be infected with several HIV subtypes that each are resistant to some antiretroviral drugs, "These kinds of cases have been reported before," Martin Delaney, founder of San Francisco's Project Inform, said, adding, "A lot of clinicians see this stuff, and they don't call press conferences." AIDS advocate Mark Harrington said, "It's much ado about an anecdote." AIDS physician Steven Deeks said that "host factors" -- patient traits rather than virus traits -- are "almost certainly the cause" of the man's rapid progression to AIDS,Although using such cases as scare tactics is wrong, the "important thing is to put out the facts,"
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=20386
Still only one case.