New virus strain behind HIV explosion in the Philippines

[nitpicker]

http://www.dw.com/en/new-virus-strain-behind-hiv-explosion-in-the-philippines/a-42912490

New virus strain behind HIV explosion in the Philippines

Date 09.03.2018

Remarkable advancement in the prevention, management and treatment of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has led to a global decline in HIV as well as new infection rates. The Philippines, however, remains an outlier. The country has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region.

The total number of new HIV infections in the Philippines increased by 140 percent from 2010 to 2016, according to the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) and UNAIDS, the United Nations agency on HIV and AIDS. DOH data show that as of December 2017, there were 50,725 reported cases of HIV in the Philippines. And the agency forecasts the total number of HIV cases in the country to reach 142,400 by 2022.

In an interview with DW, Dr. Edsel Salvana, Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines, talks about the new strain — the HIV AE subtype — and its implications for Philippine society.

DW: Give us an overview of this new HIV subtype AE and how it is affecting new HIV infection rates.

Edsel Salvana: The HIV virus has the potential to transform itself into a new and different virus each time it affects a cell. 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 percent 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. Those infected by the HIV subtype AE are younger, sicker patients who are more resistant to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. We are also seeing a faster progression to AIDS under subtype AE.
(snip)

[Rollo]

1. Wow, I had no idea...

That there are more than 100 subtypes/strains of HIV.

I'm wondering if the type AE, which is responsible for the surge in the HIV epidemic in the Philippines, will make an appearance here in the USA.

Since type AE sounds like it is more drug resistant, this has far-reaching consequences, no?

Lack of adequate prevention and cultural bias in the Philippines appears to be a big part of the problem there, but a more virulent strain is bad news.

Occasionally I seen news reports of an HIV vaccine in the works... but if it's targeted against only the type B seen in the Western world, it won't be of much use elsewhere, or when strains like AE come here.

Not a great time for Trump to be slashing the CDC budget, is it?