It was the South African scientist who discovered the new strain who hypothesized that the virus would have mutated after infecting an unvaccinated HIV-positive person.
Tulio De Oliveira is the South African scientist who alerted the World Health Organization, WHO, to the existence of a new strain of Covid-19, the Omicron variant, a few weeks ago.
This researcher who has been studying Covid and its various mutations for months had also focused his research published in June on the case of a patient with HIV.
Positive for 216 days
That person South African, HIV positive and unvaccinated was a rather interesting case. And for good reason, she tested positive for Covid for 216 days.
Although she was never seriously ill, she was hospitalized and scientists were able to study her case.
The most surprising thing about this patient is that when her antiretroviral drugs were replaced about six months later, she had to cured of his Covid infection but also controlled his HIV in a few weeks.
About thirty mutations observed
They also detected 13 unique mutations of the virus from her blood samples taken when she tested positive for Covid, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
But the samples analyzed then revealed around thirty genetic mutations, some mutations of which could block the effectiveness of the vaccine.
The Omicron variant and its many mutations
So since the Omicron variant exhibits a certain number of mutations and that he appeared in South Africa, country in which a large percentage of the population of young people are not vaccinated and have HIV, Tulio De Oliveira is convinced that the Omicron variant certainly appeared after passing through the body of an unvaccinated HIV-positive person.
Indeed for him, the pattern of mutations is similar : people living with HIV or AIDS, therefore immunocompromised, are the hosts for mutations and variants because the virus can survive longer in their body due to their lack of immunity, as reported by Futurism.
In June, by demonstrating that an HIV-positive person could more easily “mutate” the Covid, the scientist declared that this discovery was an opportunity to “control the HIV epidemic”.
The opportunity above all to study in the near future the functioning of the two viruses when they are confronted with each other, in the hope of eventually combating both …
