Scientists have discovered a stronger and more “severe” HIV variant in Europe.
On 3 February, researchers from the University of Oxford announced that they found the “VB variant” within the Netherlands.
According to the published findings on Science.org, it has been silently spreading throughout the country for decades.
The “aggressive” strain was first discovered in 2018 within samples from the BEEHIVE project. The initiative was originally created to understand the evolution of the immunodeficiency virus.
While analysing the array of samples, researchers stumbled on 17 HIV positive individuals that presented unusually high viral rates.
15 of the samples originated from the Netherlands, with the other two coming from Belgium and Switzerland.
Shortly after the discovery, researchers looked into Dutch records and found 92 additional VB variant cases – which brought the total amount of individuals to 109.
The initial few cases first appeared in the late 1980s. In the 2000s, the number of infected individuals increased and then took a significant drop by 2010.
The research revealed that patients with the contagious strain had “3.5 to 5.5” higher viral loads than people with other HIV variants.
The health report also suggested that individuals with the “VB variant” would be more “vulnerable to developing AIDS within 2 to 3 years” if left untreated.
Luckily, scientists have assured the public that there’s nothing to worry about.
In an interview with NPR, the study’s lead author Chris Wymant revealed that the current antiretroviral drugs are just as effective on the new strain.
“Nobody should be alarmed. It responds exactly as well to treatment as HIV normally does,” he explained.
He went on to say that the strain shows no signs of “resisting medications” but said people who contract the variant must seek treatment as soon as possible.
The news comes a few days after Moderna confirmed the start of their HIV vaccine trial.
On 27 January, the pharmaceutical company announced that they had partnered with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to work on the jab.
Like their COVID-19 vaccine, the experimental shot uses mRNA (also known as messenger RNA) technology which helps the body make proteins that trigger immune responses.
Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of IAVI expressed his excitement for the trial in a statement.
“We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna’s mRNA platform,” he said. “The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine.”
Stephen Hoge, M.D., President of Moderna, echoed similar sentiments in a follow-up release.
“At Moderna, we believe that mRNA offers a unique opportunity to address critical unmet public health needs around the world,” he said.
“We believe advancing this HIV vaccine program in partnership with IAVI and Scripps Research is an important step in our mission to deliver on the potential for mRNA to improve human health.”
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