"Genetic" Cure for AIDS Finally being Uncovered?

[! !]

It was only a matter of time until someone with the RIGHT DNA combination would be able to defeat this epidemic, if this article is true -

WHAT A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR THE WORLD

[indent] Mr Stimpson, a Scot living in London, was found to be HIV-positive in August 2002, but 14 months later a blood test suggested that he no longer carried the virus. A further three tests confirmed the finding.
Doctors believe that this first confirmed case of “spontaneous clearance of HIV could offer important insights into the behaviour of the virus, and possible means of defeating it.


A spokeswoman for the Chelsea and Westminster trust confirmed yesterday that Mr Stimpson had an HIV-positive diagnosis, followed by a negative test, but she stopped short of saying that he was cured. She insisted that there was no chance a mistake had crept into the testing system. “Those tests are both accurate, the positive and a negative; they are correct, the spokeswoman said, adding that doctors had asked Mr Stimpson to undergo further clinical investigation to find an explanation


Mr Stimpson told two Sunday newspapers that he felt special and blessed to have escaped a condition that he had thought was a death sentence. “It was so shocking, because you just never expect that, he told the News of the World. “There are 34.9 million people with HIV around the globe and I’m just one person who managed to control it, to survive it, to get rid of it from my body
[/indent] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1871540,00.html

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article326894.ece

[kAtHicKa]

Hey, that's kewl - a couple years back I saw on some science show that they had discovered a virus that could kill the HIV virus in monkeys. But I never heard anything more about it. They were still testing it and trying to find out if there would be problems with the new virus. Anyway, just wondering if anyone else ever heard about that. Seems I hear about cures and stuff and then (whoosh) they just disappear - governmental conspiracy, I'm sure... ;)

[jwenting]

It's been suspected that some people have a natural immunity against the virus, or rather immune systems that can successfully fight it off, but this is the first case in which it has been shown under controlled conditions (meaning, no chance of mixups in the samples and results, results verified and retested under lab conditions) that it has indeed happened (all previous results were suspect as they were reported by bush hospitals in places where record keeping routines are at best suspicious and therefore there was no guarantee that the infected and free samples were indeed from the same person).

IF this is indeed a case of a person fighting off the virus successfully (rather than a bodged test, which is still being verified) AND the person is willing to cooperate in further research this could according to an expert who talked to the Beeb last weekend potentially lead to a vaccine or some other treatment but don't hold your breath as it will take years at least.

[chalimac]

The natural immunity has been known for years in some African prostitutes. But we are years afar from a medical application, in my opinion.

[jwenting]

not known, only suspected :)

[MartyMcFly]

It is good news certainly, and in an interview, he stated that he wanted to help out in any way to finding a cure. Years away as it may be, it's enough to bring hope to the future.