Body Horrors / 2016-11-06 01:23
I know that the study of infectious diseases seems grim. Bacteria are increasingly becoming antibiotic resistant, baby parasites nest in your brain and tuberculosis spreads to your toes. I get it – all this devotion to the study of what gruesome-thing-du-jour is in your blood and saliva isn't sunshine, puppies and rainbows. So in the interests of maintaining public optimism, I offer you GBV-C, a virus that has been found to offer a protective, antiviral effect against HIV infection. Yes, that HIV.
GBV-C is a member of the Flaviviridae family of viruses; a truly distinguished and deadly lot that includes hepatitis C, yellow fever, West Nile virus, dengue and a slew of nasty encephalitis-causing viruses that roost in mosquitoes and ticks. GBV-C, however, appears to exist within the body as a benign, harmless infection. It provokes no identifiable clinical symptoms of disease and seems to be the black sheep of the noxious Flaviviridae family (2).
The one thing that makes this virus notable, even outstanding!, is that for those who are co-infected with HIV and GBV-C have been shown to live significantly longer than those without GBV-C (3). If HIV is an unwelcome houseguest in the human body, then infection with GBV-C is like waking up one day and unexpectedly finding a housekeeper doing the dirty dishes and containing the mess created by this destructive guest.
A model showing the morphology of the GBV-C virus. The human body's antibody to the E2 envelope glycoprotein may assist in stymieing HIV infection. Source: the Physician Research Network. Click for source..........
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