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Any chance of viruses like Avian Bird Flu and HIV combining? - (May/20/2005 )

I found this group while googleing to research a response to something posted on another forum. Someone, who claims to have extensive knowledge of microbiology, posted that he thought it was plausible to fear that Avian Flu and HIV could react together and form some type of super disease in someone infected with both diseases. This sounded far fetched to me.

Some of the other posters on that forum who have biology backgrounds have tried to show him he's wrong, but he replies with links that he feels justify his position.

For my own personal edification, I was hoping someone here could tell me whether or not it is possible. Is it even plausible?

-zombiekiller-

It should depend on the type of virus, as far as I understand (and that isn't much about viruses) HIV is a retrovirus, an H5N1 is a coronavirus, so they shouldn't be able to, as they rely on different replication systems. Also for recombination in general to occur, the viruses would have to be entering the cell at the same time and be in the same replicative phase for recombination to occur. I don't think that flu viruses infect immune cells like HIV does, but I wouldn't quote me on that.

Bob

-bob1-

QUOTE (zombiekiller @ May 20 2005, 03:23 PM)
I found this group while googleing to research a response to something posted on another forum.  Someone, who claims to have extensive knowledge of microbiology,  posted that he thought it was plausible to fear that Avian Flu and HIV could react together and form some type of super disease in someone infected with both diseases.  This sounded far fetched to me.

Some of the other posters on that forum who have biology backgrounds have tried to show him he's wrong, but he replies with links that he feels justify his position.

For my own personal edification, I was hoping someone here could tell me whether or not it is possible.  Is it even plausible?


This is someone just spreading fear and really hasn't put much thought into this situation. There is little or no evidence that H5N1 can be spread through human to human contact. Most of the documented cases have been avian to human transmission.

This guy pick H5N1 because of its mortality rate and recent newsworthiness. Furthermore, why should anyone be scared of HIV recombining with a strain of influzena that has a transmission and mortality rate that lower the HIV's rates, anyway.

The most deadly combination would be the more common flu and HIV. Since its human to human transmission is quite common. Now you take something that highly infectious and give it the immuno suppressive abilities of HIV and you have something to be scared about.

However, i bet there are 10000x more documented cases of HIV positive people coming down with common influzenza strains than there have been of documented cases of just avian flu infection. Yet there is no super disease.

-dobbiewalton-

Thanks for the responses.

True to form, the debate in that forum eventually decayed to the argument of "well, divine intervention could happen". Your responses were really interesting and I thank you for your time.

Back to lurking mode...

-zombiekiller-