how come some people are immune to HIV?

Answer 1

Not a Lot of people Are Immune, Perhaps they Have a Deletion In the CCR5 Gene (CCR5DEL32), Perhaps Because they Were Previously Infected With a Strain of the HIV, That didn't Cause Disease, I Heard About a nef Deleted Strain In Australia, Long Ago, I Haven't Heard About it Since. I Have Subsequently Looked Up nef, Much has Been Written About it, but I didn't Keep Up With it.


Something I Came Across In a Textbook:

Live-Attenuated Virus Vaccines

The use of live-attenuated virus vaccines has been highly successful in the control of several important viral diseases, including measles, rubella, and polio. These vaccines present in a manner that most closely resembles naturally occurring infection and that also stimulates a broad array of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. With some live-attenuated virus vaccines, immunity is particularly long-lasting. Depending on the site of immunization, live-attenuated viruses may be highly efficient in the stimulation of local (mucosal) immunity, which may be especially important for prevention of HIV-1 infection transmitted by the sexual route. Boosting by repeated mucosal immunizations may also be possible, depending on the intensity and duration of local immune responses stimulated by initial immunization.

Clearly, the major concern in the development of live-attenuated HIV-1 vaccine candidates is safety. The problem of devising adequate safety tests, particularly given the lack of an entirely suitable animal model for HIV-1 disease, was noted earlier. The incomplete understanding of the pathogenesis of HIV-1–associated disease, and the associated difficulty of identification of virulence factors, has also inhibited attempts to develop live-attenuated viruses. HIV-1 is known to have a number of regulatory genes that affect different points of the virus replicative cycle (see Chapter 166 ). One approach to the development of a live-attenuated virus vaccine has been to delete one or more regulatory genes, which can result in a mutant virus that has lost pathogenicity. Because such a virus has a genetic deletion, it would appear to be less likely to revert to its pathogenic parent, at least by reconstruction of the deleted gene. The attenuated mutant virus would nonetheless have to replicate sufficiently well to stimulate humoral and cell-mediated immunity. One such live-attenuated SIV vaccine, in which the nef gene was deleted,[136] provided impressive protection against virulent SIV challenge in macaques. The precise mechanism of protection for the nef-deleted vaccine is unclear but may depend on the continued presence of replicating virus in various cellular compartments. As with other live virus vaccines, attenuation is a relative term and is highly dependent on host factors. Nef-deleted SIV viruses that are nonpathogenic in adult monkeys have caused disease when administered to neonatal animals.[137][138] Even in adult monkeys, nef-deleted mutants have been observed to undergo repair with restoration of virulence, illustrating the risks inherent in such an approach.[139] As a result, the development of live-attenuated HIV-1 vaccine is proceeding cautiously.

Answer 2

They aren't immune to HIV. They do not develop AIDS. There is a fundamental difference.

HIV causes AIDS in 99.99 percent of people who contract the virus. AIDS is a symptom of HIV infection - the HIV kills T cells, which are immune cells, and you die from an infection, like pneumonia, a cold, or E. coli. This situation where you don't have enough immune cells to fight infection is called AIDS.

There are a few people who, despite contracting HIV, do not develop AIDS. Nobody knows why, although many are currently being studied to see if they have a genetic disposition to avoiding HIV full-blown infection. My guess, although I don't know whether this has any bearing in reality, is that the HIV does not actually recognize their T cells, and thus cannot do anything but float around in their bloodstream. There's also the potential that the HIV virus in their bodies is somehow faulty, which is well within reason because the virus replicates thousands of times, and there have probably been hundreds of billions of replications, since it was first discovered and identified in the early 1980s.

There are something like 100 people who have ever been known to show signs of AIDS resistance. And every one of these people is capable of passing HIV on, and people who catch that strain of HIV will also die.

EDIT: I was apparently correct with my guess. Read below.

Answer 3

nobody is immune to the hiv virus it can hide in your body for years and then wake up when you dont expect it

Answer 4

you need to get on the web and learn more about HIV.

it has the capacity to stay dormant in your body for up to 10 years. then it activates into full blown aids which is the beginning of up to 5 year death sentence.

believe me nobody is immune. and if you play around from partner to partner, well even the best looking potential sex partner is liable to pass it on to you.

Answer 5

In some people, SYMPTOMS (AIDS) take much longer to show, but anyone who contracts HIV carries and is capable of transmitting it.

Answer 6

dont fool yourself, no one is immune to hiv