Quote Originally Posted by fred View Post
Problem is....How would they ever know they had it in the first place?
Do you mean those that have been tested HIV + but then a year later they were tested again and no trace of it??

The only way to confirm HIV infection is by testing body fluids ( usually blood ) for antibodies, and ideally also for antigens ( viral proteins ) ; there may be no symptoms ( or only nonspecific " ‘flu-like " symptoms ), and AIDS only results months or years after undetected - therefore untreated - infection.


For reasons given already, many people living with HIV infection are either undiagnosed, or diagnosed late.


However, those who ARE tested include sex workers, homosexual or heterosexual subjects who have a history of possible infection through their sexual behaviour, children borne to HIV positive mothers, intravenous drug users, and healthcare workers who may have been accidentally exposed to the virus. These people who consent to testing are helping not only themselves but also others to receive better treatment, and ultimately cure for this terrible infection.


The immune system generates many responses - both antibody formation and T cell responses - to different viral antigens. Not all antibodies and T cell functions are routinely tested.


Immunology is a complicated topic, and individual responses vary from none detectable ( these patients have HIV virus and are likely to die from AIDS ) to " broadly neutralising antibodies " ( giving protection against different strains of HIV ). Since HIV, like other viruses, keeps mutating, it’s these uncommon broadly neutralising antibodies which will probably be the best hope for developing future vaccines.

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