The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is reportedly becoming a less-dangerous bug over the past several years, Forbes reported.
Philip Goulder, an immunologist from Oxford University, revealed that the scientists found out in a recent study in Botswana that the number of HIV patients that could live without getting AIDS is increasing significantly.
Goulder and his team conducted an experiment where 2,000 female patients in Botswana and South Africa were observed by medical experts. The study showed that HIV is becoming "less virulent."
And if the decline in AIDS casualties continues, Goulder said that he will not be surprised if HIV will be considered as "almost harmless" in the near future.
"If the trend that we've seen in the last 10 years in Botswana were to continue - and I see no reason why it shouldn't - the number of people who can control the virus through their immune system would definitely go up," Goulder said. "It's not impossible to see HIV becoming less of a cause of disease."
The development did not surprise Goulder, though. He said that most scientists are convinced that most virus will be very deadly at first, but will become less dangerous after years of existence.
Goulder also clarified that people should not be too complacent because the HIV has yet to lose its potency, pointing out that it is still a virus that a person "wouldn't want to have."
South Africa General Statistician Pali Lehohla revealed recently that HIV is still the third leading cause of death in the country, but he also clarified that it does not mean that the virus is becoming more deadly.
"HIV is number three. Does that mean that HIV has increased? The evidence in terms of the reality point to a different direction," Lehohla told IOL News. "It's a fact of reporting, not so much that HIV and AIDS death have increased."
Lehohla pointed out that the doctors in South Africa are just becoming too comfortable in saying that HIV is the cause of death of a certain patient because of insurance-related reasons, but the number of confirmed HIV deaths declined in 2013.
According to the report, a total of 458,933 people died of HIV in 2013, which is 6.5 percent lower than the 491,000 deaths in 2012. HIV accounted for 3.9 percent of all deaths in 2013 and 5.1 percent in 2012.
