Question
Am I immune to HIV?
7 May 2010. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.
How can I find out if I am immune to HIV? I have been exposed to the virus for a long time and am still negative. Are there any current studies about people that may not be able to contract HIV? I believe I am one of them!
Answer
Thank you for you question.
It is not possible to be immune to HIV. What you are describing was seen in the earliest years of the epidemic, in the partners of men with haemophilia who had been infected with HIV many years earlier. This is thought to be explained by developing a strong local response to one virus, but I think this is still just a theory.
You may have a genetic protection against HIV due to a genetic mutation (called delta 32 deletion). Even if this is the case, and less than 2% of Caucasians have this, there is no commercial test, and it still may not guarantee protection.
Perhaps most likely is that you could just have been lucky in not having caught HIV after many exposures. Sometimes it might take hundreds of exposure though before someone is unlucky and becomes infected. So using condoms from now 0n would probably be recommended by most healthcare professionals. Some people with a genetic mutation called delta 32 are less likely to catch HIV but even then it is still possible to become infected. You may have just been very lucky so far.
For more information on HIV transmission and testing please follow this link to the i-Base factsheet
Hi Lucas,
No one is immune to HIV.
that respons is a lie. people with certein genetical mutation are immune to hiv. its possible.
Hi Mugisu,
If your partner is on medication and is undetectable, this may be the reason why you haven’t contracted HIV. For more info please see the PARTNER study:
http://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study/
If they aren’t on treatment, then up to now, you’ve been lucky.
I too have ever been in a relationship for three years with a HIV positive partner having unprotected sex daily but have tested negative, I think am one of the lucky few who can’t contract HIV :)
Hi Kayvee
Thanks for posting your experience. The main thing is that it is good that you have stayed negative. I think this is more due to good luck – especially when your husband had a high viral load. One early study from before there was effective HIV treatment reported that only 5% of negative partners became positive each year in monogamous heterosexual couples, even though they were not using condoms.
I have not seen any research that suggests HIV gets less aggressive with time. Viral load is higher in early infection – but the immune system then controls this with out treatment – at least for a while. IF anything, HIV becomes more aggressive and difficult to treatment in advanced infection.
I hope that you husband health is okay – it sounds complicated and you are lucky to have each other.
It may have something to do with the age of the virus in the person who had it. I was in a relationship for a long time with my husband who did not know that he was HIV positive. When we first got together I got a bad cough and lost 10K in weight over 1 month. I was very underweight and sick for a few months and then didn’t think anything of it.
Five years later we found out that he was HIV positive. Luckily my baby and I were fine and HIV test when pregnant were negative so we didn’t even think about getting him tested.
The docs/consultants reckon that he had HIV for a long time and his viral load was unbelievably high and his T cells counting about 4…so pretty much non existent.
They said that the virus is aggressive when it is newly in the body and converts as many cells as possible. As it gets older and has taken over the body it can become less aggressive and slower and hence why I might not have caught it despite being in a sexual relationship without protection in my marriage.
There may be a chance that I have the gene mutation as well… but they think the first reason is why.
Please use protection though. As his went undetected for so long he s very sick still with many problems resulting form the HIV including not being a young man on dialysis as his kidneys packed up and a host of other problems.
Hi Eric, thanks for your post.
The reason you are still HIV negative is much more likely to be due to good luck than to a strongly protection against HIV. I’m sorry for your loss – that is always difficult. I don’t think that your lover would not want you to go through the same experience of catching HIV. Becoming positive yourself will complicate your life. It is good that you are generally safe with your partners now.
In addition to condoms being very effective, two new aspects of research also are producing exciting results. One is that if your partner has an undetectable viral load, they are much less infectious.
http://i-base.info/guides/starting/treatment-as-prevention-tasp
The other involves the negative partner taking a daily HIV pill called PrEP.
http://i-base.info/pep-and-prep
I have been with 4 partners that are HIV positive & for the most part we have been safe… There have been a few times that I did not practice safe sex & I have been tested & do not have the virus… I have lost a lover …
Olá,
Estou triste de ouvir sobre a morte de seu parceiro. Este deve ter sido muito difícil para você, e descobrir que ela era HIV positivo deve ter feito isso ainda mais difícil. É verdade que existem algumas pessoas que não podem ser infectadas com o HIV. Isto é por causa de uma protecção genética. É difícil saber se este é o caso para você, ou se você apenas com muita sorte. Para mais informações sobre proteção genética contra o HIV por favor consulte o nosso Guide to HIV testing and risks of sexual transmission
tive uma uniao estavel com uma pessoa contaminada por oito anos, tres meses antes dela falecer eu fiz um exame, pois estava desconfiado, deu negativo, entao ela faleceu. Fui chamado pela assistente social do hospital no qual ela veio a óbito, ai veio a bomba, a assistente me disse a causa da morte era aids, eu sempre desconfiei, mas como tinha feito o exame fiquei tranquilo, mas a duvida se o exame era falso negativo permanecia na minha cabeça, fui encaminhado ao lugar onde os soropositivos eram tratados, conversei sobre o ocorrido com a enfermeira responsavel, fiz o teste rapido, foram os 10 minutos mais angustiantes da minha vida, deu negativo, ela me garantiu que o teste era confiavel, passados mais uns meses fui fazer de novo, novamente deu negativo. A enfermeira me explicou que uma pequena parte da população nao contrai o virus, que a janela seria no maximo de alguns meses, como sempre tive relações sem proteçao por oito anos devo acreditar que sou imune?