Scientists Compare Spread of HIV to 'Internet Malware'

A new study released Tuesday found that HIV spreads through the body like a computer virus, and it could help researchers figure out better ways to treat HIV to keep AIDS from developing.

Researchers from the University College London compare HIV and conficker, a computer worm that began its spread through 200 countries in 2008 and remains active even today. They built a model for this 'hybrid spreading' which accurately predicted patients' progression from HIV to AIDS in a major clinical trial - and say early treatment is key to staving off AIDS.

Lead author Changwang Zhang, of UCL, said: 'HIV and Conficker have a lot in common.

'They both use hybrid spreading mechanisms, persist for a very long time and are incredibly difficult to eradicate.

'Our model enables us to explain these important properties and to predict the infection process.'

Changwang's supervisor co-author Dr Shi Zhou said: 'Although the cybersecurity community organised an unprecedented collaboration to tackle Conficker, they still failed to eliminate Conficker from the Internet.

'HIV researchers face a similar problem. We hope that our new understanding of hybrid epidemics will help us to fight against Conficker and HIV.'

Similarly, scientists need to create an accurate model in order to understand how something they cannot directly observe (disease, in this case) works. The right model links an unseen biological process with a logical prototype. The researchers of the new study, then, created their computer worm model to show how HIV progresses to AIDS.

The WHO has recommended that HIV treatment should commence only when the T cells in the bloodstream falls below the prescribed level. However, the UCL's model forecasts that treatment should instead commence as soon as is possible after the infection is established to prevent the onset of AIDS in the long run.

"The number of HIV cells in the bloodstream is always relatively low, and our model shows that HIV spread through the bloodstream alone would not be enough to cause AIDS," explains co-senior author Prof. Benny Chain, UCL Infection and Immunity. "It is likely that when HIV gains a foothold somewhere with a high T cell population, such as the gut, it uses a cell-to-cell transfer mechanism to efficiently spread directly between them."

"As such, if HIV has already spread to an area rich in T cells by the time treatment begins, preventing its spread through the bloodstream will not stop AIDS. Our model suggests that completely blocking cell-to-cell transfer would prevent progression to AIDS, highlighting the need to develop new treatments," he added.