Flu experts worry that the Bird flu could readily mutate into a pandemic form when it infects people with AIDS.Expert Speaks Out
A BBC report discloses that Dr. Robert Webster a U.S. flu expert said at a conference in New York City that it is possible people with AIDS can harbor the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which would give it the opportunity to become better adapted - and more dangerous - to humans.
Possibly the crisis scenario could be realized when the H5N1 virus reaches East Africa, where many people have HIV/AIDS.
When the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus infects people with HIV/AIDS, those who have weakened immune systems ? the virus could become better adapted and dangerous to humans
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis said because those with the HIV virus have depressed immune systems, the avian H5N1 virus would make them much more susceptible, and prime breeding grounds for a deadly adaptation of bird flu.
The Scenario
Earlier this month, Pulitzer Prize-winning health journalist Laurie Garrett explained a scary theory about how HIV and the bird flu virus would interact.
It is claimed that the H5N1 virus kills by over-stimulating cytokines in the immune system, many of which are suppressed by HIV infection. Following this line of reasoning this means that people with HIV-related immune dysfunction will survive the bird flu infection. In turn leading to a breeding ground for H5N1 in surviving patients, allowing the flu virus to mutate and adapt.
In this scenario, the HIV+ person becomes the mixing pot, growing and spreading new forms of the virus.
Bird flu Spread Map
Reference: news.webindia123.com
