10% of children in the world have an immune system against HIV

Natural evolution and selection have made the human body adapt to HIV.

A recent study revealed a very unique event. For the first time in human history, the immune system of a small group of children infected with HIV has evolved to protect them from viruses and prevent the disease from developing to AIDS.

Normally, without treatment support, more than half of all HIV-infected children worldwide will die before the age of two. However, recent studies have found that up to 10% of children infected with HIV will never develop symptoms of infection and never turn to AIDS. The cause of this phenomenon has not been clearly explained.

Scientists after the analysis found that these children's immune systems became similar to the immune system in primates. Their immune system is not afraid of the HIV virus and the infection process is still under control.

Lymphocytes in these children do not care about the HIV virus and let them survive.(Image source: sciencealert).

This study opens new hope for mankind in developing better HIV treatment models in the future.

When a person is infected with HIV, the virus often attacks the body's immune system. They will make the white blood cells clean. After that, the patient will be easily injured by other infections. This condition is called immunodeficiency syndrome - AIDS.

In patients who reach AIDS stage, even a common cold can cause them to die. Current antiviral treatments allow patients to have a relatively healthy life by inhibiting the HIV virus before it progresses to AIDS.

The new study analyzed 170 South African children under five. Babies are HIV-infected patients at birth but so far there has been no sign of turning to AIDS even though they have not experienced any antiviral therapy. Research results show that the immune system of these children has a very strange reaction to the HIV virus.

These children have tens of thousands of HIV viruses in every mml of blood. In normal people, the immune system when encountering such a large number of viruses will conduct very violent resistance activities that make the body seriously ill. However, in these children, the process did not take place.

The immune system of these children has a very strange reaction to the HIV virus.

"Basically, these children's immune systems are not interested in HIV viruses. Lymphocytes let HIV viruses exist and they only care about killing other bacteria and viruses. ", according to researcher Philip Goulder from Oxford University (UK).

As the immune system fights HIV, white blood cells will die as much, leading to other illnesses that may invade and destroy the body.

Interestingly, this strategy of disregarding the HIV virus has been conducted by more than 40 other primates. Therefore, these animals can be infected with HIV and still live well because their immune system has prevented the disease from progressing to AIDS.

"Natural selection has done this," Goulder said. "And this mechanism is similar in African children."

After years of massive illness and death from HIV, the human body has gradually become adapted to the disease.