HIV Gradually Losing Potency And Its Ability To Cause AIDS

One of the world's deadliest virus,HIV is slowing its ability to cause
AIDS, and evolving into a milder form .According to a study of more
than 2,000 women in Botswana and South Africa.

Philip Goulder, a professor at Oxford University who led the study, said

"Overall we are bringing down the ability of HIV to cause AIDS so
quickly,"But it would be overstating it to say HIV has lost its
potency -- it's still a virus you wouldn't want to have."Anything we
can do to increase the pressure on HIV in this way may allow
scientists to reduce the destructive power of HIV over time.". 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 - I think the number
of people who can control the virus through their immune system would
definitely go up - or be expected to go up - and eventually could be
some tens of decades down the track - the majority of people."

"You know, it's not impossible to see HIV becoming less of a cause of
disease. And that's what you see in the monkeys who are naturally
infected with SIV, the relation of HIV, which is where we actually got
HIV from. They suffer no disease at all,"

The study also indicates that people infected by HIV are likely to
progress to AIDS more slowly -- in other words the virus becomes less
virulent -- because of widespread access to antiretroviral therapy
(ART).

The findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences.