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Wednesday, 9 August, 2000, 14:54 GMT 15:54 U
Tropical disease could fight Aidssans-serif
Some treatments are too expensive for many Aids patients
The tropical disease scrub typhus could be used as a cheap treatment for
HIV and Aids, according to scientists.
Research carried out in Thailand suggests the disease can suppress HIV
to undetectable levels.
Scientists found that the virus count in the blood of people with Aids fell
significantly after they suffered a bout of scrub typhus, a tropical
disease spread by insects.
They are now working to see if disease has the same affect among
people with HIV.
The discovery was made by a team of scientists from the joint US-Thai
funded Armed Forces Institute of Medical Sciences.
Dr George Watt, one of the lead scientists, said the discovery was made
"by accident".
"No other infectious disease has ever shown the effects of reducing HIV
viral load.
"The scrub typhus-HIV link was completely unexpected, we were not
looking for it.
"We were merely doing a general descriptive study of the relationship
between HIV and tropical diseases when we came across this sudden
discovery."
Further research
He warned, however, that further research was needed before the disease
could be used as an effective treatment.
The scientists are extending their research to study a wider sample of
HIV patients in an attempt to identify exactly what element of scrub
typhus works to suppress the virus.
They believe that a microbial agent called Orientia tsutsugamushi which
is part of the typhus virus may be responsible. _Times New Roman _Times New Roman Search BBC
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sans-serifIf successful, typhus could be used to provide a cheap
alternative to the combination drug therapies which are currently
available.
The vast majority of the 34m in the world who suffer from HIV or Aids
cannot afford expensive combination drug treatments.
"If antibodies of scrub typhus were used to fight HIV it potentially could
be a very inexpensive method."
He added: "We have to tell dying patients, 'Yes, there is treatment for
HIV, but it's too expensive for you.' So there is tremendous motivation
for the scrub typhus to work."
Scrub typhus is most common in east Asia and the western Pacific. It is
transmitted via the bite of the larval trombiculid mite and while it can be
fatal it can be treated with drugs if caught early. _Times New Roman
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