A recent study made by the University of Oxford claims that HIV may become harmless someday as it is evolving in a matter that it’s now forcing it to take longer to turn into the AIDS disease.
The HIV virus has been found to have dimmed its capacity to duplicate. The HIV also reduces its capacity to successfully take on the human body as its capacity to duplicate is reduced. Scientists are carefully optimistic that such an evolution may mean that HIV may become harmless someday in the future, as they are analyzing cases from South Africa and Botswana. HIV may become harmless someday even if that day may be a very long time from this moment.
Oxford professor Dr. Philip Goulder said:
“It’s quite striking. We are observing evolution happening in front of us and it’s surprising how quickly the process is happening.”
Goulder said about patients currently under study in African nations.
Goulder along with his team of researchers have conducted a test in which 2,000 females in South Africa and Botswana were watched by medical scientists. The research revealed that the HIV virus is becoming increasingly less virulent. Should the decrease in AIDS casualties continue, Goulder believes that HIV may become harmless someday in our future.
“If the trend that we’ve seen in the last 10 years in Botswana were to continue – and I see no reason why it shouldn’t – the number of people who can control the virus through their immune system would definitely go up. It’s not impossible to see HIV becoming less of a cause of disease.”
Philip Goulder said.
This development however did not come as a surprise to Goulder. He explained that many scientists believe that most viruses will first be lethal than gradually becoming less dangerous as their years of existence have gone by. Goulder also made sure to clarify to people that they should not be too confident as the virus is still very potent and pointed out that HIV is still a virus that someone would not want to have.
The report claims that in 2013 a total of 458,933 people died because of the HIV virus, which is lower by 6.5 percent that the deaths in 2012 reported at 491,000. HIV was responsible for 5.1 percent of deaths in 2012 and 3.9 percent in 2013.
