Doctor Hung

frightening, never-before-seen "superstrain" of the AIDS (news - web sites) virus - unimaginably aggressive and resistant to nearly all - has been found in New York City, alarmed health officials announced yesterday.


A gay, 40-something city man recently diagnosed with the new virulent strain is believed to be the first known case in the world.

The most striking characteristic of the strain is that full-blown AIDS sets in with lightning speed after HIV (news - web sites) infection - as quick as two to three months, in contrast to the nine- to 10-year lag that is normally the case when a victim is untreated.

"We've not seen a case like this before," city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said at a press conference yesterday.

"We've identified this strain of HIV that is difficult or impossible to treat and which appears to progress rapidly to AIDS."

Ronald Valdiserri, a deputy director at the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, said: "We're talking about a single case, but clearly the fact that we are dealing with such broad resistance of drugs and the rapid clinical progression is quite alarming.

"We have to use this as a wake-up call to remember that HIV is still a formidable adversary," he added, noting that federal health officials aren't aware of another case like this in the United States or elsewhere.

Kendall Smith, an HIV researcher at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, said that because the virus is constantly mutating, a possible superstrain "has been the dark shadow lurking behind us."

The superstrain was dubbed "3-DCR HIV" because it's resistant to three of the four HIV drug classes that are currently in use, which amounts to 19 of 20 drugs that are rendered useless.



The infected city man, who was diagnosed in December, is believed to have contracted HIV in October. He already has progressed to full-blown AIDS, officials said.

The man, whose name was not released, engaged in high-risk sexual practices with multiple male partners, officials said. They are now trying to locate his partners.

The man's judgment was clouded because he was taking the drug crystal methamphetamine, which causes users to lose their inhibitions.

While city officials don't know how wide the new virus has spread, they are ramping up safe-sex messages.

Ana Oliveira, executive director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, said fighting crystal meth and other drugs is instrumental in bringing down rates of HIV infection.

"This is a story of somebody who remained HIV-negative for over 40 years which is a success, but under the influence of crystal meth made decisions and took risks," Oliveira said of the infected city man.

There are about 88,000 New Yorkers living with HIV.

SaintElGrouch

I heard something about it on the radio. I vaguely remember them discussing something about there might be something already in the works that actually kills this kind of HIV. Or maybe i'm mistaken. Either way it's some pretty scary shit.

rollinOn20s

No way, are you guys serious, thats fucked up!

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xanx

man,

rickholio

I recently caught a news report with the angle that teens/young adults have started going bareback more and more, because (I quote): "AIDS isn't a big deal any more"... along with typical teen nihilism, of course.

Perhaps a well-publicized scare of how virulent and deadly this disease can be might wake some of those kids up before the damage is done and they can't go back.

junction

Typical media hype. All viruses/bacterias slowly mutate into strains that are resistent to drug therapy. We then adjust the treatment to manage the infection.