Being Immune to HIV
Kai Brothers is immune to AIDS developing
Kai Brothers is a resident of San Francisco, now in his 21st year since being diagnosed with HIV. He believes he contracted it as early as 1981, but throughout this period his health has never dipped below "the odd cold or headache". He is an ‘elite controller' or ‘suppressor'; part of the 0.2 percent of the infected population whose condition does not progress into AIDS. His white blood cell count has stabilised and he is on no medication at all. In fact, he is so unaffected by the disease that he just cycled 850km for charity.
"I was diagnosed in 1989 and by the early 90's my boyfriend, his ex and the one after me all died. I was just sitting around waiting for my turn but I never got sick. I think it was in 1998 when I was still healthy that I started thinking, ‘what's happening with me?' I asked my doctors if there was anything different with me, but I was ahead of the curve and they'd never heard of anything like that. In 2000 I heard about this study of immunity by Dr. Jay Levy, who was a well known AIDS researcher, so I went to meet him."
Kai on the 'Lifecycle' from San Francisco to Los Angeles
It transpired that Kai was missing the CCR5 protein which HIV uses to enter and attack cells. In the absence of CCR5, Kai's T cells broke down the virus while at the same time guarding the healthy cells. "He told me I was an elite non-progressor, one of about 0.2 percent of all HIV+ people." Though barely a trace of HIV still lives in Kai's bloodstream, he is still a carrier, theoretically capable of infecting others; "I don't associate myself with HIV+ people, or negatives, I'm kind of in limbo."
Having dodged such an almighty bullet, Kai felt compelled to become a lab rat for the doctors and visits the hospital once a month for blood draw, sonograms and spinal taps in the hope that doctors may be able to unlock some of the mysteries hidden within his immune system.
Dr. Levy in his research facility
As to how much has been gained from these tests, Kai is circumspect. "A month ago I took part in a study that involved fusing cells culled from different non-progressors. I'm yet to see any result, but the doctors don't seem that confident". He is similarly unconvinced by a breakthrough made in Philadelphia the other week which successfully vaccinated four monkeys. "I spoke to Levy recently and he's not sure how much will come of it. But at the same time doctors enjoy being able to say ‘he doesn't know what he talking about'. There are core ideologies competing, which creates a kind of rivalry."
Nevertheless, encouraging progress has been made. In November last year an AIDS sufferer appeared to have been cured after receiving a bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukaemia. But research may be undermined by the threat of recession-era cuts. Mitchell Warren, head of the AIDS Vaccination Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), says that order to stave off the threat of cuts, HIV must retain its high public profile. New success stories with vaccines and non-progressors are essential for this. The ‘magic bullet' may still be a long way off, but at the very least these developments will keep AIDS in the public eye.
