News / Health
New aggressive HIV strain discovered in Cuba
21 Feb 2015 at 20:56hrs | Views
A new strain of the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) known as recombinant has been discovered in Cuba.
The HIV strain is said to be very aggressive and develops into AIDS twice as fast as the average strain.
Researchers in Cuba studied 73 infected people, comprising 52 who had rapidly progressed to AIDS within three years and 21 who were HIV negative.
They compared the results with those from 22 patients infected by the old HIV strains which progresses to AIDS after about 10 years.
Their findings revealed that all those who had progressed to AIDS within three years of infection were infected with a recombinant called CRF 19.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa confirmed the development and said the country will remain vigilant and continue with interventions that have enabled the country to register a sharp decline in HIV prevalence over the years.
Dr Parirenyatwa urged HIV positive couples to use protection and avoid cross infecting each other, saying if someone infected with one subtype is exposed to a different strain, it can lead into a new strain.
The new strain is a mix of three sub-types of HIV and progresses to AIDS within 3 years if an infected person is not on treatment.
According to the United Nations, Cuba had 15 000 people living with HIV in 2013, out of a population of about 11.3 million.
Zimbabwe has approximately 1.3 million people who are HIV positive and about 700 000 are on treatment.
The HIV strain is said to be very aggressive and develops into AIDS twice as fast as the average strain.
Researchers in Cuba studied 73 infected people, comprising 52 who had rapidly progressed to AIDS within three years and 21 who were HIV negative.
They compared the results with those from 22 patients infected by the old HIV strains which progresses to AIDS after about 10 years.
Their findings revealed that all those who had progressed to AIDS within three years of infection were infected with a recombinant called CRF 19.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa confirmed the development and said the country will remain vigilant and continue with interventions that have enabled the country to register a sharp decline in HIV prevalence over the years.
Dr Parirenyatwa urged HIV positive couples to use protection and avoid cross infecting each other, saying if someone infected with one subtype is exposed to a different strain, it can lead into a new strain.
The new strain is a mix of three sub-types of HIV and progresses to AIDS within 3 years if an infected person is not on treatment.
According to the United Nations, Cuba had 15 000 people living with HIV in 2013, out of a population of about 11.3 million.
Zimbabwe has approximately 1.3 million people who are HIV positive and about 700 000 are on treatment.
Source - zbc
