Scientists at US healthcare major Abbott Laboratories have discovered a new strain of HIV virus, the company has announced.

The new subtype of the human immunodeficiency virus is called HIV-1 Group M, subtype L, the group that led to a global pandemic. A new strain of the HIV virus has been found after 19 years.

“This research marks the first time a new subtype of ‘Group M’ HIV virus has been identified since guidelines for classifying new strains of HIV were established in 2000. Group M viruses are responsible for the global pandemic, which can be traced back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Abbott in a statement.

The findings, published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (JAIDS), show the role next-generation genome sequencing is playing in helping researchers stay a step ahead of mutating viruses and avoiding pandemics.

Since the beginning of the global AIDS pandemic, 75 million people have been infected with HIV and 37.9 million people today are living with the virus.

Even though the new HIV infections are going down globally, researchers are monitoring new strains to make sure testing and treatments continue to work.

There is no cure for AIDS, the disease caused by the HIV virus, but the viral load is controlled through Antiretroviral (ART) therapy.

Abbott created its Global Viral Surveillance Program 25 years ago to monitor HIV and hepatitis viruses and identify mutations to ensure improved testing mechanisms.

“Identifying new viruses such as this one is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” said Mary Rodgers, principal scientist and head of the Global Viral Surveillance Program, Diagnostics at Abbott, and one of the study authors, in a statement.

“By advancing our techniques and using next generation sequencing technology, we are pulling the needle out with a magnet. This discovery can help us ensure we are stopping new pandemics in their tracks,” she added.

The company is making the new strain accessible to the research community to evaluate its impact to diagnostic testing, treatments and potential vaccines.

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BioBuzz has reported that a new document submitted to the Food and Drug Administration from American Gene Technologies (AGT) may contain the cure to HIV/AIDS. The group submitted a 1,000 page document with their planned treatment.

The treatment would see an individual’s cells cultured and expanded outside the body, before being reintroduced back, with just a single dose. The aim of this immunotherapy is for the donor’s cells to stop the AIDS virus from progressing and thus build immunity from HIV.

The end goal of the treatment is to restore the body’s natural immunity to HIV, as cells that could prevent the spread of the illness are targeted first by the disease, and therefore the body’s immune system would treat it like any other disease if someone became infected.

In a statement, the CEO of the AGT, Jeff Galvin said: “We want to get these people out of jail and back to normal life. We see this as critically important. We need to move these people from anti-retroviral control to permanent immunity and we think our project may be able to do that.”

The Food and Drugs Administration should report back to the AGT on whether the treatment plan can move onto clinical trials by the end of the year. If successful, the AGT is looking to recruit patients by early next year.

Earlier this week, a research team at Abbott Laboratories published findings that a new strain of HIV had been discovered. This was the first time this had happened in almost 20 years.

The new strain, referred to as ‘HIV-1 Group M, Subtype L’, is one of dozens of mutations of the HIV virus to be discovered. There are currently known to be two main types of HIV and many subtypes which are constantly evolving over time, this is why ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy) for HIV positive individuals may vary from person to person.   

Mary Rogers, principal scientist at Abbott said in a statement “Identifying new viruses such as this one is like searching for a needle in a haystack. This scientific discovery can help us ensure we are stopping new pandemics in their tracks.”

This new strain belongs to HIV-1 Group M, which has been responsible for the vast majority of infections in the HIV epidemic to date.

There are several ways to prevent HIV infection which include PEP, PrEP, condoms, and U=U (HIV positive people cannot pass on the virus). London based sexual health clinic 56 Dean Street are currently fundraising to help bring PrEP to more younger men, as although overall rates of new infections are declining, young men who have sex with men are increasingly accounting for a greater percentage of new diagnoses.

The post Scientists believe they may have found a cure for HIV/AIDS appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Cure for HIV/AIDS is still not found as there are so many types of virus which makes it difficult to make a vaccine. Since every strain of HIV requires a separate method to eliminate them, epidemics such as AIDS and Cancer are still incurable. But for the first time in 19 years, Scientist has discovered a major new strain of HIV which could be a big breakthrough for finding the HIV/AIDS cure.

The latest strain uncovered is part of the HIV-1 version, Group M and the same family of viruses is mainly responsible for spreading the disease all over the world. Abbott Laboratories and the University of Missouri, Kansas City conducted the research together and are now working on a possible solution to kill the HIV strain and cure the deadly disease.

HIV generally has many different types of strains and the virus can mutate over time which makes the use of simple drugs ineffective in killing them. The first Group M HIV strains were discovered in 2000 and now a new type has been found which means that the test to detect AIDS is effective.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has said that the biggest problems lie with identifying the cause of HIV and discovering the new strains will help them understand how the viruses evolve. Fauci also assured people not to panic as there are very rare chances of someone getting affected by it and they are also working on a cure based on the discovery.

Treatment to Eliminate the HIV Strain

The Scientists at Abbott and the University of Missouri have been searching for new types of HIV strains for years and it was like looking for a needle in the haystack. The sample HIV strain was fully sequenced and they now have a clear structure and it was found out that it was subtype L from the M Group.

The latest discovery is an indication that to cure HIV/AIDS one must learn how it develops and functions. The virus is constantly changing and hence they develop a treatment that can also evolve and keep up with HIV and eliminate it at the end.

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