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HIV becoming AIDS Oct 12, 1998 Is it proven that all HIV cases will turn into AIDS? Is there any concrete evidence that anyone has not contracted AIDS after contracting HIV? |
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| Response from Dr. Cohen
 HIV is a virus that almost always causes some degree of immune destruction. However, we have known that sometimes this destruction is very slow. There are in fact about 2--5% of people who have HIV in whom there is no apparent evidence of much destruction at all after over 10 years, since the CD4 count is stable over time. This appears to be due to a number of fortunate factors, including having genetic good luck, an immune system that can control HIV itself, and a 'weakened' strain of HIV. This observation has been a clue for treatment research, since we are looking for ways to "teach" the immune system how to control HIV similar to what it does in this case. For example, this is much of what is being done with therapeutic vaccination research. Hope that helps. CC | ||
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