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Published online 22 October 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2007.185
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Moderate HIV cases worst for transmission
People who stay free of symptoms longest are more likely to spread disease.
HIV-positive individuals who have no symptoms but who carry high levels of the virus in their blood have long been considered the most likely to spread HIV. But researchers have now found that those with only moderate levels of the virus have a greater chance of transmitting HIV to others in the long term.
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In comparison to HIV-1, HIV-2 is less aggressive type, usually shows much lower viral load in patients, though cause the same disease anyway but late. Countries with slowly spreading HIV-2 such as large parts of Africa and India, often as dual infection alongwith HIV-1, are therefore more at risk of having increased dissemination of HIV-2 and AIDS.
"Moderate viral load levels have a greater chance of HIV transmission".If this holds true then India where diverse Immunogenetic associations are reported with HIV-1 infection and further cross- clade viral diversity described from Manipur the chances of disseminating drug resisitant virus is more. This will have a golbal impact in generating the viral antigen diversity and hence more challenging for HIV vaccine development.