New AIDS Strain Discovered in US

Posted: By Jessica Berman
Washington, VOA News

HIV has turned this dying T cell into a virus-production factory. The T cell is covered with new viral particles ready to spread and infect other cells.U.S. public health officials say an unidentified New York City man has been diagnosed with a new HIV strain that has so far not responded to any anti-AIDS drugs. The unidentified man in his mid-40’s became infected with a drug resistant form of the virus that causes AIDS after having unprotected sex with other men while using crystal methamphetamine, an addictive stimulant.

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said officials know little else about the man. “We don’t know for certain precisely when he was infected although further laboratory tests may shed light on that. And we don’t know how he will do in the future,” he said.

Officials say they don’t know how many people the man may have infected. He was diagnosed with what turned out the be the drug resistant strain of HIV in late 2004 after years of having unprotected anal sex with other men.

Health officials say they’ve tried three commonly prescribed drugs on the man without success. He is now receiving a fourth drug.

Infectious diseases specialist Jay Dobkin of the State University of New York worries that HIV could again become an unmanageable disease. “Many of us up here remember the dark days before there was any effective treatment for HIV. And I think the case… should be a reminder that those days could come back,” he said.

While it’s not unusual for anti-viral drugs to become less effective or stop working in people who have been infected with HIV for a long time, experts say they have never seen drug resistance develop so quickly, either in the United States or abroad.

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“Many of us up here remember the dark days before there was any effective treatment for HIV. And I think the case… should be a reminder that those days could come back,” he said.

If they keep coming back,will the ever go away?

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experts say they have never seen drug resistance develop so quickly, either in the United States or abroad.

We are going to die real quick. Let us repent so that God may take away this cup of suffering from us.

this desease ! may GOD help us it is wipping families very fast.

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this desease ! may GOD help us it is wipping families very fast.

yeah,its scary. i have cousins who are orphans and they are having a hard time in this world.i feel so terrible cuz i cant do much to help hem.just give them clothes,small things.
why does God let this happen? I thank God everyday i have my parents here.

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Originally posted by Maria:

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this desease ! may GOD help us it is wipping families very fast.

yeah,its scary. i have cousins who are orphans and they are having a hard time in this world.i feel so terrible cuz i cant do much to help hem.just give them clothes,small things.
why does God let this happen? I thank God everyday i have my parents here.

its so scaring,may we take care!

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its so scaring,may we take care!

I pray every day against rape and campus madness(getting carried away by some fantasy).a big percentage of students here are infected,its scary.

May we all jus take care. It is not a myth as many young pple today would like to believe....

IT IS REAL!
IT KILLS!

AIDS is so real, especially here in Kisumu, i think the biggest issue right now is for individuals to take responsibility of their lives!! you only live once and it had better be good life which is achievable by taking control of it. guys have been told time and again to abstai (for the unmarried) but they dont, if you must not abstain then use condoms, they are cheap and available and can save your life from the infections. behaviour change is another thing, it does not have to happen to one close to you for you to learn, it might be very hard and painful. problem is, by now we all know the facts, there have been so many awareness campaigns it just pains to see someone fall into those traps again. for the infected, positive living, easier said than done, but the best thing we can do is stop the stigmatisation (again easier said than done) we can pray but if after saying amen we shall have unprotected sex with guys whose status we dont know, then even God in his mercies will not help us. after all God helps those who help themselves.

Yah AID's is real and i agree with u wakaris

i have a cousin, one day she came home and she was toothpick thin..if you know what i mean.i was scared. i knew she was dying. but,if you would see her now,you'd think that she is the most healthy woman on this planet. she has blown up!
now, how dangerous are these ARVs and House of health drugs? these people would keep on spreading the virus if they wished.

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Originally posted by wa kariuki:
AIDS is so real, especially here in Kisumu, i think the biggest issue right now is for individuals to take responsibility of their lives!! you only live once and it had better be good life which is achievable by taking control of it. guys have been told time and again to abstai (for the unmarried) but they dont, if you must not abstain then use condoms, they are cheap and available and can save your life from the infections. behaviour change is another thing, it does not have to happen to one close to you for you to learn, it might be very hard and painful. problem is, by now we all know the facts, there have been so many awareness campaigns it just pains to see someone fall into those traps again. for the infected, positive living, easier said than done, but the best thing we can do is stop the stigmatisation (again easier said than done) we can pray but if after saying amen we shall have unprotected sex with guys whose status we dont know, then even God in his mercies will not help us. after all God helps those who help themselves.

Wakaris; your very right on what you have stated above; but then am sure most if not the bigger percentage has already heard about this deadly disease AIDS.
BTW who watched the documentary somewhere in Ugenya...or is it Siayaya (Can't remeber exactly where but its Luo land)where they still belive that HIV is witchcraft and if you take mafuta ya samak..especially omena...you cannot contract HIV. So our government still needs to do alot of enlightnening to do...
However; I think its in human nature to always do the opposite of what we have been told. Hence I propose that because people always do the opposite; then instrutions/documentaries/journals and all sorts of information should be reading in reverse...something like this:
1) "How to Run Down your Car"
2) "Cathching Aids Made Easy"

I think this way it might make an impact....

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Originally posted by Maria:

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its so scaring,may we take care!

I pray every day against rape and campus madness(getting carried away by some fantasy).a big percentage of students here are infected,its scary.

Maria,
Please pray pray pray. And I will pray with you cos I know how devastating this disease is.
Wa Kariuki,
I was watching a feature on NTV of how the fish mongers (the mamas) befriend the fishermen so that they can get continuous supply of fish and in sufficient quantity. I sympathised with them confessing this and looking so desperate as they are caught in the cycle. It was sad.

I will sing a verse of Kariuki wa Kiarutara's song in honor of this important topic

Njirigite kumwira ati mbembe ni ndoge
Ngimwira mundu arumie karia gake ka ngoro
Mukiuria ngui ciohwo, kungimenyeka naki
Ngui iria iri urume, mukiuga nyinage o rwimbo

Mbari ya mwenda njeru-i, mbari ya mugwa hari
Ngutema ngimutema-i niinyi mukingo ugirite.

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Originally posted by Papa Daad:
For sure this is what we need. I wish it can be expanded.

Ngunjiri put it aptly that if people were as keen to change their behavior as they were about the Rift Valley Fever, the AIDS drive could be a resounding success.

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Ngunjiri put it aptly that if people were as keen to change their behavior as they were about the Rift Valley Fever, the AIDS drive could be a resounding success.

i agree with you on this, its all about behaviour change! statistics indicate that AIDS is more prevalent in urban areas than it is in rural, and there is this general assumption that guys in rural settings are more educated and as such awareness is common knowledge as in almost everyone knows about it starting from small kids, there has been so much interventions done as well, what remains is what you and i have to do (supposed to have done but we still havent!) what no one else can do even the greatest of researchers!! for you and i to take responsibility!! choose either to Abstain, Be faithfu or Condom use, if all fails Drugs (ARVs) iki fail yote then death!! let us all take responsibility, life is presious.