HIV-2 vs. HIV-1 infection.... Some Questions, please!

[SATC]

Hi All! I have been lurking in these forums for a few years now and just recently decided to make an account for a few reasons.

I stumbled upon this article recently that was actually printed on September 11th, 2007, but I hadn't seen it. The title of the article is "Understanding Why Infection with HIV-2 is not as Bad as HIV-1". The article stars off with some stuff, but then there is this line that says "It is hoped that understanding why individuals infected with HIV-2 rarely progress to AIDS....". I am a little bit confused here. My understanding is that most people in Africa are infected with HIV-2, not HIV-1. But if HIV-2 infection rarely progresses to AIDS and most people with the disease die of other causes then how come all of the humanitarian charities are telling us that Africa's  population has been almost wiped out by AIDS and that there is basically not a single person left who is not dying of AIDS already. Someone has got to be lying here.... or maybe I am just misunderstanding things.

Can anyone help me, please?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070907105907.htm

[Ann]

Sat,

Hiv-2 is mainly found in some some countries of West Africa and is not very prevalent at all. The prevalent strain in sub-Saharan Africa is hiv-1.

Are you hiv positive yourself? If you are, why not introduce yourself and join us.

[SATC]

Yes, I am positive. And have been positive since 2001.

I'm going to have to do some research into its prevalence, because I thought I had read that it was the prevalent strain throughout Africa.

[SATC]

Ann,

Take a look at this map

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa

Most of Africa is below the Saharan Desert, including South Africa. Now I know I have read somewhere that South Africa's population has been halved because 50% of their population is dying from AIDS. Am I wrong?

*Woops* I meant to say that the South African life expectancy has been halved due to the AIDS crisis.

[Ann]

Welcome to the forums, SATC.

I guess you must have misread. Hiv-2 isn't very wide-spread at all. As I said, it's mainly found in Western Africa and sometimes in European communities who are host to African immigrants, although it hasn't (so far) spread out into the European populace in general.

I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I think you're probably pretty close with the life expectancy in SA. Please remember that this does not mean that EVERYONE in SA has had their life expectancy cut in half, but it is the population taken as a whole and averaged out. Also, more and more people are gaining access to the meds in SA and the number you mention may no longer be true. Somewhere else in southern Africa, such as Zimbabwe, it might be closer to the truth.

There's no denying that aids is having a HUGE impact on the populations of many African nations. Part of the problem is that it is affecting people who are of working age, leaving school, hospitals, and the food industry short of able-bodied workers. The infrastructure is in grave danger of falling apart in many areas. Children are raising children due to the death or ill-health of their parents. In short, it's a very real, very big MESS.

I think the UK website www.aidsmap.com might be a good place to find more info on this. Good luck with your research.

Ann