A new highly transmissible and considerably more dangerous strain of HIV has just been found in the Netherlands by scientists collaborating with Oxford University. They're dubbing it the "new virulent subtype B" - or "VB", for short.

An multinational investigation conducted by researchers from Oxford’s Big Data Institute uncovered 109 examples of the novel strain after reviewing more than 6,700 samples from individuals who had tested positive for HIV. Details from the research were published this week in the medical journal Science. The researchers concluded that the variation had been circulating in the Netherlands for "many years".

Source: Sciences

Their investigation identified "significant" genomic variations between the VB strain and other HIV strains. One had a substantially greater viral load, implying the virus would be both more virulent and more contagious.

"Individuals with the VB variation had a viral load (the level of the virus in the blood) between 3.5 and 5.5 times greater," the scientists added. The results of their investigation have been published in the journal Science.

According to the research, the rate of CD4 cell decrease - the hallmark of immune system destruction by HIV - "occurred twice as quickly among persons with the VB variation, placing them at risk of acquiring AIDS considerably more rapidly."

But perhaps more importantly: individuals infected with the VB strain also displayed an increased risk of spreading the virus to other persons.

These data corroborate scientists' long-standing fears: that new altered strains might render the HIV-1 virus much more contagious and more lethal. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the virus already affects 38MM individuals globally, and 36MM people have died from AIDS-related diseases since the commencement of the pandemic in the early 1980s.

Fortunately, current medicines proved just as efficient at suppressing the VB strain, a hint that people infected with it wouldn't experience any change in their prognosis as those diagnosed with other strains. "There’s no cause for panic with this new viral variety," said Oxford epidemiologist Chris Wymant, the main author on the article, during an interview with the AFP.

"Reassuringly, after commencing therapy, people with the VB variation exhibited similar immune system recovery and longevity to persons with other HIV variants," the report noted.

VB has actually been present for a while - decades, from what the experts could discern. The earliest sample from the investigation came from a patient diagnosed in 1992.

However, as VB causes a more rapid weakening of the immune system defenses "this makes it vital that patients are detected early and start treatment as soon as possible" the researchers added, further underlining the significance of periodic testing for at-risk persons.

Finally: the finding of the VB variety should "be a lesson that we should never be overly optimistic about thinking viruses will only evolve to become weaker" Wymant added.

It's a lesson "the science" should have previously learnt from the delta version of SARS-CoV-2.