VIJAYAWADA: The reporting system put in place by the government to know the number of cases of HIV and AIDS in the country is not foolproof, and the actual number of HIV cases is likely to be double the number that the government is citing, according to Madhavan P.N. Nair, a professor of immunology and associate dean of bio-medical research at the College of Medicine of the Florida International University in the US.
Dr. Nair, who has been working on issues relating to HIV/AIDS for more than two decades, visited the city on Friday to address a meeting organised by the Rotary Club of Vijayawada on ‘Social support to HIV patients: India Vs USA’.
Speaking to The Hindu, Dr. Nair pointed out that the common strain of HIV found among those infected in India was clade C, which was much less virulent than clade B found among those infected in the US.
“As it is less virulent than clade B, clade C HIV will have a longer incubation period before it becomes a full blown AIDS disease. It is this longer time that makes people not realise about the magnitude of the problem,” Dr. Nair explained.
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