HIV immunity?

[denny]

Doctors say they want to investigate the case of a British man with HIV who apparently became clear of the virus.

(yoinked from harlot_rouge)

Comments

[synthclarion.livejournal.com]

Reeks of insurance protection fraud to me. If he was diagnosed as having HIV and had taken out loan protection, the remainder of the loan could have been written off, only for him to 'become well' later.

That said, if it's genuine here's hoping it leads to some kind of treatment...

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

The hospitals involved say the test results are correct, so I dunno if the fraud theory is workable.

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

hmm saw this on the news the other night - but really the news story is ahead of the science. They've not done all their millions of tests yet.

The virus does tend to go quiet and "hide" for 10 years or so after first entering the body, but I presume the antibodies continue being found during this time. They never actually found the virus in him... It is possible that he picked up a miniscule enough amount that his body Could deal with it effectively, or some chance thing killed it off..

Still definately interesting and worth watching the investigation, assuming he allows the studies to happen, as he doesn't seem to have yet.

[uberredfraggle.livejournal.com]

My housemate told me about this today. Thanks for saving me from looking for it. If it was me there is no way I'd refuse to be tested.

[fizzybean.livejournal.com]

Saw this story yesterday and to me it feels really dodgy. I think they just screwed up his first test. Which reminds me.. have you seen this place?

www.positivesdating.com (http://www.positivesdating.com/)

How does that work?

"Meet me for dinner in the lobby of the hotel. I'll be the emaciated one covered in sores. Looking forward to it xx"

:)

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Being HIV+ doesn't mean you'll have anything visibly wrong with you... until it flips into AIDS you're still perfectly healthy.

I'm inclined to think maybe the first test was wrong too. Or maybe the second? Either way, I don't see why he's refusing further tests given the potential uncertainty... unless he's convinced the third one will be positive again and he doesn't want to know. Head in sand maybe?

[pooloftrees.livejournal.com]

I read this too earlier today. It sounds a bit odd given what we know about HIV. I was wondering if there could have been any error about the initial positive result.

That said, I do hope that this provides a way forward in treating HIV. If he really has beaten the virus, then refusing to allow further testing and research is extreemly selfish.

[ulorin-vex.livejournal.com]

i heard about that briefly on the news. i dont know why it seems a little dodgy. and why on earth would he refuse further tests!

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Maybe he's scared the 'all clear' result is wrong, and he doesn't want to know the truth. I dunno, if he's legit then it must all be fucking with his head considerably.

[skx.livejournal.com]

Surely "HIV recovery"? After all they've already idenfied several people who appear to be immune.

(On the basis of them having contact with the virus and not getting infected; SF gay men, and ... umm .. prostitutes somewhere? I'm hazy on the details, but I seem to remember it having something to do with Black Death survivors?)

[blackmetalbaz.livejournal.com]

Certain populations have a deletion mutation in a specific chemokine receptor which the HIV virus requires to infect cells (the CCR5-delta32 allele). It is mostly prevalent in European and North African populations (10% or so I believe in Europe) and provides resistance to HIV if homozygous (and some protection if heterozygous). The Black Death connection comes from the work of some people who believe that the Black Death was not caused by Yersinia pestis (bubonic plague), but by some fomr of haemorrhagic fever virus... these viruses often use the same receptor to infect cells and hence there would have been selective pressure for the CCR5-delta32 allele in areas affected by the Death. This view is controversial, and many people believe that the selective pressure probably came from smallpox or similar, but I'm at least semi-convinced by the Black Death / viral story.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

*looks for the "+1, informative" mod option*

Thanks for that!