New, aggressive HIV strain causes AIDS faster

November 30, 2013 – HEALTH -A new and more aggressive strain of HIV discovered in West Africa causes significantly faster progression to AIDS, researchers at Sweden's Lund University said Thursday. The new strain of the virus that causes AIDS, called A3/02, is a fusion of the two most common HIV strains in Guinea-Bissau. It has so far only been found in West Africa. “Individuals who are infected with the new recombinant form develop AIDS within five years, and that's about two to two-and-a-half years faster than one of the parent (strains),” said Angelica Palm, one of the scientists responsible for the study based on a long-term follow-up of HIV-positive people in Guinea-Bissau. Recombinant virus strains originate when a person is infected by two different strains, whose DNA fuse to create a new form. “There have been some studies that indicate that whenever there is a so-called recombinant, it seems to be more competent or aggressive than the parental strains,” said Palm of the study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The strain was first discovered by the Swedish team in Guinea-Bissau in 2011. According to researchers, the speed with which A3/02 leads to people falling ill from AIDS does not impact on the effectiveness of medication on infected individuals.

“The good news is that as far as we know the medicines that are available today are equally functional on all different subtypes of variants,” Palm said. The study warns that such recombinants may be spreading fast, especially in regions with high levels of immigration, such as Europe or the United States. “It is highly likely that there are a large number of circulating recombinants of which we know little or nothing,” said Patrik Medstrand, professor of clinical virology at Lund University. Some 35.3 million people around the world are living with HIV, which destroys the immune system and has caused more than 25 million deaths since AIDS first emerged in the early 1980s, according to the World Health Organization. Existing treatments help infected people live longer, healthier lives by delaying and subduing symptoms, but do not cure AIDS. Many people in poor communities do not have access to the life-giving drugs, and there is no vaccine. –Terra Daily

Half Of New Greek HIV Cases Are Self-Inflicted To Receive €700 Per Month Benefits, Study Finds (world gone mad)

When one reads the following stunning, and tragic, excerpt from the World Health Organization's recent report "Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region: final report" what can one say but... Grecovery.
From the WHO:

Case study: countries’ experiences of financial crisis - Greece

Suicides rose by 17% between 2007 and 2009 and to 25% in 2010, according to unofficial 2010 data (398). The Minister of Health reported a further 40% rise in the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. Suicide attempts have also increased, particularly among people reporting economic distress (610). Homicide and theft rates have doubled. HIV rates and heroin use have risen significantly, with about half of new HIV infections being self-inflicted to enable people to receive benefits of €700 per month and faster admission on to drug-substitution programmes. Prostitution has also risen, probably as a response to economic hardship. Health care access has declined as hospital budgets have been cut by about 40% (398) and it is estimated that 26 000 public health workers (9100 doctors) will lose their jobs (611). Further cuts are expected as a result of recent negotiations with the IMF and European Central Bank.

But at least they have the Euro.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-25/greek-tragedy-half-new-greek-hiv-cases-are-self-inflicted-receive-%E2%82%AC700-month-benefit

Greek addicts turn to deadly shisha drug as economic crisis deepens

Growing popularity of 'cocaine of the poor' in Athens has overwhelmed public health authorities already under strain.
Nobody knows which came first: the economic crisis tearing Greece apart or shisha, the drug now known as the "cocaine of the poor". What everyone does accept is that shisha is a killer. And at €2 or less a hit, it is one that has come to stalk Greece, the country long on the frontline of Europe's financial meltdown.
"As drugs go, it is the worst. It burns your insides, it makes you aggressive and ensures that you go totally mad," said Maria, a former heroin addict. "But it is cheap and it is easy to get, and it is what everyone is doing."
The drug crisis, brought to light in a new film by Vice.com, has put Athens's health authorities, already overwhelmed by draconian cuts, under further strain.
The drug of preference for thousands of homeless Greeks forced on to the streets by poverty and despair, shisha is described by both addicts and officials as a variant of crystal meth whose potential to send users into a state of mindless violence is underpinned by the substances with which the synthetic drug is frequently mixed: battery acid, engine oil and even shampoo.
Worse still, it is not only readily available, but easy to make – tailor-made for a society that despite official prognostications of optimism, and fiscal progress, on the ground, at least, sees little light at the end of the tunnel.
"It is a killer but it also makes you want to kill," Konstantinos, a drug addict, told Vice. "You can kill without understanding that you have done it … And it is spreading faster than death. A lot of users have died."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/16/greek-addicts-sisha-drug-crisis