Recently,
Canadian researchers have been focusing on findings of a
natural resistance to
AIDS and
HIV among
prostitutes who work in
Kenya. In the relatively short and
painful history of AIDS, this natural
immunity to HIV/AIDS displayed by
promiscuous gay men and these
Nairobi women has been ignored and overlooked.
These
women have been prostitutes in Kenya for periods of
ten to twenty years. The
AIDS statistics show that
1 in 5 Africans are
infected, and 1 in 3 of these women's clientele are most likely carrying the AIDS virus. How are these women serving
multiple men per day and still remaining free of the
virus? Scientists think it's got something to do with their
T-cell count, and when their
bodies are first attacked with the virus, the T-cell count rises to a level where it can efficiently
attack the HIV and knock it out of the body's
system. Since the women are
repeatedly exposed to the
virus on a constant basis by sleeping with
infected men, their T-cell count remains at such a high level that they basically become
immune to HIV, and consequently,
AIDS.
Such a discovery has amazing
potential in the
fieldwork of
AIDS research. However,
controversies will not be settled easily, as there are multiple
strains of AIDS and most research has been focused on finding a
cure, or now possibly a
vaccine, for the one found most commonly within the
United States. If we find a vaccine for the U.S. strain, one may not come so quickly for
Africa's strain. However, if
research is focused on finding help for Africa, you can
bet your bottom dollar that
research funding for the U.S. is sure to quickly follow. It's
sad to say, but the
decision now is mostly in the hands of the
governments, and the
pharmeceutical companies who
control the
funding for such research.