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Was higher viral load responsible for the African HIV epidemic?
Gus Cairns, 2013-02-12 07:20:00
Researchers from Cornell University in New York have found that the average HIV viral load of people not taking antiretroviral medication (ART) in Africa, and especially in southern and eastern Africa, is higher than the viral loads of untreated patients on other parts of the world. The so-called 'community viral load' (CVL) off treatment was nearly four times higher on average in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, and 5.5 times higher in southern African countries excluding South Africa, than it was in North America.
Speculating that these higher viral loads might be the reason Africa has experienced a far more serious epidemic of HIV than other regions, and one that has spread into the general population, the researchers used a mathematical model to estimate that one-in-seven HIV infections in sub-Sarahan Africa would not have happened if the CVL in untreated people had been the same as in richer regions. Their model found that this effect was especially marked in low-risk populations such as heterosexual people with few partners.
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