SUPER "AIDS"

SUPER "AIDS"

"Super AIDS" is an informal term used by some for a strain of the human immunodeficiency virus that arose in New York City in 2005.
The phrase "Super AIDS" is not used in formal contexts, but it was used in the South Park episode The Death of Eric Cartman

Typically, the "wild" type of HIV (the strain of HIV found in individuals not treated with Antiretroviral drugs) is much more effective at attacking the human immune system than the types that evolve in the presence of antiretroviral drugs. Thus, by changing the selection pressure (from being infection driven to being drug-avoidance driven) retroviral drug treatment causes HIV to evolve to a more innocuous form, less efficient at infecting T-cells.

Super AIDS, however, was a strain that was not only resistant to anti-retroviral drugs, but it was more effective than "wild" HIV at infecting T-cells.

The strain retained vulnerability to enfuvirtide.