HIV Infection and Cure: Study Finds That Virus May Eventually Become 'Almost Harmless'

HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, is becoming "less contagious and deadly," TIME magazine said, pointing to a new study.

As the virus evolves and adapts to the human immune system, it seems to become less detrimental to that system and also less infectious in general, the publication noted.

"HIV may be naturally evolving into a milder and less fatal virus," TIME wrote citing a recent study at Oxford University published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists there discovered that HIV is taking longer to transition to AIDS, and virologists told BBC that it may eventually become "almost harmless."

The conclusion was reached by comparing cases in Botswana with those in South Africa. In the former country, where the virus arrived 10 years earlier, patients who had contracted HIV took 10 percent longer to develop AIDS than in the latter. The principal explanation for this, the scientists hypothesized, was that Botswana is now seeing a "watered-down" version of the virus.

What helps rein in the virus, according to the Oxford scientists, is when the virus is confronted with a particularly strong immune system.

"(Then) the virus is trapped between a rock and hard place, it can get flattened or make a change to survive. and if it has to change then it will come with a cost," Philip Goulder, one of the researchers, explained.

In turn, it becomes harder for the virus to replicate, which makes it less infectious and slows down the development of AIDS. When this "downgraded" version is spread to other individuals, a slow cycle of "watering-down" HIV begins, according to BBC.

HIV, which first appeared in the early 1980s, is transmitted primarily via unprotected sexual intercourse. It is believed to have originated in non-human primates in West-central Africa and transferred to humans in the early 20th century.

More than 35 million people around the world are infected with HIV. According to BBC, the HIV virus attacks the immune system and "rapidly and effortlessly mutates to evade and adapt to the immune system."

No effective HIV vaccine exists, though various vaccines have been tested in clinical trials since the discovery of the virus.