Mutated strains of HIV in Saskatchewan causing illness quicker: Study
AMSTERDAM — Mutated strains of HIV circulating in Saskatchewan are leading to faster-developing AIDS-related illnesses in the Indigenous population, new research has shown.
The research from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Simon Fraser University was presented at the 2018 AIDS Conference in Amsterdam on Thursday. It showed that the strains of HIV in Saskatchewan have high levels of immune-resistant mutations compared to ones in other areas of Canada and the United States.
“Physicians were saying there’s something going on here that isn’t right, people are getting sick very, very fast,” said Zabrina Brumme, the lead author of the study and associate professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University.
“It’s almost as if the virus is nastier.”