USA: SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY 2 PEOPLE IMMUNE TO HIV VIRUS

(30 Mar 1996) English/Nat Scientists in the US have identified two people apparently completely immune to the HIV virus which causes Aids. The men remained free of HIV despite a history of unsafe sex with multiple sexual partners who subsequently died of Aids. Their white blood cells - which would normally be susceptible to HIV infection - produce proteins which prevent the virus from entering the cells. And the New York scientists believe these findings could help in the search for effective drugs or vaccines in the fight against AIDS. The Aids community is reacting with hope to reports of two men in New York who seem to be unable to get infected with the HIV virus. One of them is Steve Crohn - his immunity to the HIV virus could hold the key towards eventually defeating it. SOUNDBITE: "I had a partner... A life partner who died of AIDS in 1982 and after that I had myself tested. There was no name for the disease, he was probably one of the first 10 or 25 people who died of the disease. And after that, then I was still interested in state-of-the-art scientific investigation and in also having myself tested. It's a very traumatic thing to lose a lot of people. It's very traumatic to be tested again and again and wonder. And I kept turning up negative and then someone repeatedly... I heard people say 'Why aren't they following you, why don't they test you because you're always negative?'" SUPER CAPTION: Steven Crohn, Aids "Uninfectable" (partner died of Aids)] The Aaron Diamond Aids Research Centre looked at 25 subjects with a history of sexual exposure to HIV and found they had varying degrees of immunity. Two of them, Crohn and one other man, were found to have an extremely high resistance to the virus and had their white blood cells cultured in a laboratory. The scientists repeatedly tried to infect these so-called CD4 cells with the HIV virus - but could only do so with 200 times the dose normally needed to produce a result. Steve Crohn says even among his own family members he had always been the most resilient . SOUNDBITE: "My mother died of cancer, my sister had breast cancer, my father has a heart condition .. I have nothing. I get the flu occasionally but I really am very ... it's probably, you know, I have a good immune system." SUPER CAPTION: Steven Crohn, Aids "Uninfectable" (partner died of Aids) The research team found that his CD4 cells - which would ordinarily be susceptible to HIV infection - produced proteins which prevent the Aids virus from entering the cells. The unusually high level of chemokines may have some antiviral effect. But the scientists warned there was still a long way to go before an actual cure might be found. SOUNDBITE: "I just want to stress that there are viruses out there which can probably infect these people. It's just those are the ones which are not commonly transmitted. But I would caution over interpretation of what we report. I don't want the whole world at large to believe we have found the cure, it's not the case." SUPER CAPTION: Dr. Bill Paxton, Scientist at the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Centre These volunteers at "Food and Friends" prepare meals for AIDS patients who have become to weak to help themselves. One volunteer, who himself has AIDS, is concerned that news of the breakthrough could bring a dangerous false hope to those who already have the virus. SOUNDBITE: "So there is the danger that somebody who is already in denial will take that information and then go act out with unsafe sex." SUPER CAPTION: Steve Burdick, AIDS patient. SOUNDBITE: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...