Theories about Immune Resistance to HIV
Some exposed uninfected people, like EU4 and EU5, seem to have an unusual, effective, anti-HIV immune response. This seems to be how some exposed people remain HIV-negative.

Andrew J. McMichael and Job J. Bwayo have been studying Kenyan prostitutes who are HIV-negative, in spite of frequent exposure. One theory is that, in some people, multiple low-dose exposures produce an unusual type of vaccination against the virus. Ongoing research will eventually tease out the details of this complex type of resistance and may lead to a vaccine for the general population.

A different type of resistance was seen in EU2 and EU3 from the previous experiment, and the molecular mechanism of this resistance is understood in detail. The CD4+ cells of EU2 and EU3 did not appear to be infected at all, consistent with the hypothesis that the cells of some EU people don’t allow the virus to enter, or don’t allow it to replicate.

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