Scientists find dangerous HIV strain

A team of scientists led by Professor Christophe Fraser of the Big Data Institute at Oxford University has discovered a new, more dangerous and infectious strain of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Netherlands, the journal Science published the report.

The scientists found the mutation while analyzing blood samples of HIV-infected Europeans from Uganda. In 17 of them, a previously unknown strain named VB was identified. Of these, 15 were from the Netherlands, so the scientists further examined samples taken from 6,700 Dutch people living with HIV, before identifying an additional 92 people infected with the new strain.

The viral load of those infected with the VB strain of the immunodeficiency virus was several times higher than those infected with the already known HIV variants. Moreover, they had a higher risk of developing AIDS, as well as of transmitting the infection to others. After antiretroviral therapy, however, the immune system returned to normal.

A later study showed that the VB strain actually appeared in the Netherlands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It spread faster than other variants of HIV in the 2000s, but after 2010, due to effective control of the virus, its spread went down.

Why the strain has now reappeared is still unknown to scientists.

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