I guess there’s a delicate balance here to strike between fear and cautious positive steps. Doctors don’t seem to think that the long-term fight to eradicate HIV, or at least drastically contain it, is threatened by the VB variant. Some experts even think public warnings are counter productive.

But the HIV clinicians I spoke to asked me to spread some simple messaging that’s always important: Get tested, get treated, be safe.

These steps might be more important than ever if the VB variant begins to dominate new infections, but they’re important all the time. HIV infection rates are declining, and as long as we keep working together to promote good practices, the decline should continue.

But we must be cautious.