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Superinfection on the rise
The Sowetan, 6 August 2003
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Cases of people being infected with more than one strain of HIV are becoming increasingly common, the South African HIV/AIDS Conference in Durban heard yesterday. A paper delivered on behalf of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases said those infected with more than one type of HIV tended to get AIDS sooner.
There are two main types of HIV (HIV-1 and HIV-2) with 11 main sub-types. However, there are increasing numbers of mutations. AIDS is not like 'flu - each time a person is exposed to HIV, they are re-infected, which is why HIV-positive people have to use condoms, particularly if having sex with another HIV-positive person.
In a study conducted among sex-workers and their clients in KwaZulu-Natal, 60% of the sex-worker and 56% of their clients were infected. On average, less that a fifth of clients or sex-workers used condoms. The average sex-worker had 15 partners a week.
Of those studied, 12% had more than one sub-type of HIV circulating in their body, and all of that grouup had mutant or recombinant HIV and a significantly higher viral load - which means life expectancy is shorter - than those infected with one type of HIV.
"Dual infection can be a consequence of either co-transmission (infection with two strains at, or close to, sero-conversion - the time when a person becomes HIV-positive) or super-infection (subsequent HIV-1 infection of an already infected individual) with the same sub-type or different sub-types," the report noted.
It said dual infection could result in recombination (mutation), "... which in primates has been shown to occur within 15 days of co-infection. The high numbers of unique circulating recombinant forms suggest that dual infection and recombination occur frequently."
It is difficult to treat a person who has more than one type of the virus. The challenge of more than one sub-type of HIV is hampering the development of a vaccine. |
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