A SINGLE HIV case in New York has raised fears of a new strain that is both highly resistant to drugs and causes rapid onset of AIDS.
The strain infecting a man in his forties has turned out to be resistant to 19 of the 20 licensed anti-retroviral drugs. The man also developed AIDS within two to 20 months of infection, whereas it normally takes more than 10 years. Some HIV strains have one or other of these properties, but no known strain has both.
It is too early to tell if this really is a new “super-strain”. The man…
