There appears to be some very promising news on the HIV/AIDS front. A new research study has found indications that in its continual evolution to survive in the battle with the human immune system, it is becoming less potent in its ability to cause the AIDS syndrome.
HIV evolving 'into milder form'
The team at the University of Oxford shows the virus is being "watered down" as it adapts to our immune systems.
It said it was taking longer for HIV infection to cause Aids and that the changes in the virus may help efforts to contain the pandemic.
Some virologists suggest the virus may eventually become "almost harmless" as it continues to evolve.
More than 35 million people around the world are infected with HIV and inside their bodies a devastating battle takes place between the immune system and the virus.
HIV is a master of disguise. It rapidly and effortlessly mutates to evade and adapt to the immune system.
There have long been reports of individuals who appear to establish something close to an immunity to AIDS. They appear to become infected with the HIV virus but it never progressed to AIDS. This sort of occurrence is thought to have stimulated a process of genetic selection in the replication of the virus. The strain of the virus that has been able to survive under such conditions has become less able to replicate rapidly.
The study was conducted by comparing regions in Africa where there was a major time difference in the appearance of HIV. In the regions where it has been around longer, it has become milder. The study also suggested that the use of anti-retroviral drugs has also contributed to a similar adaptive evolution toward a milder form. So, not only are these drugs effective in keeping infected people from progressing to full blown AIDS, but they may also be helping to change the nature of the disease.