Every tenth child in South Africa has innate AIDS defence
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A study found that one in ten children have a “monkey-like” immune system that stops them developing AIDS.
By Dragana Todorovic
Scientists have analysed the blood of 170 children from South Africa with HIV who have never had treatment nor developed AIDS. The tests showed that the respondents had tens of thousands of human immunodeficiency viruses in every millilitre of their blood. Normally this would push their immune system over the limit of endurance as the body would be trying to fight the infection, but that was not happening. The fact that the immune system had not attacked the virus, saved it.
According to the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, every one in ten children has an immune system that keeps them from developing AIDS.
The study found that the immune system in these children remained inactive, similar to monkeys, which prevented it from being wiped out.
An untreated HIV infection is fatal in 60 per cent of children within two and a half ye...
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