![]() His body is able to eliminate all detectable traces of virus without the antiretroviral medications that have saved millions of lives and downgraded HIV to a treatable chronic illness in much of the world. Hoff, New York Times reporter Matt Richtel writes in “An Elegant Defense,” is “an immune system marvel,” possessed of an uncommon genetic variant that triggers a hyper-robust response. As a gay man with multiple partners, he said the news “didn’t come as a surprise.” The surprise was his lack of symptoms and his intact T-cell count-untreated HIV normally decimates this population of critical immune cells-both then and now, 42 years after infection. Seven years later, during a routine physical, Mr. ![]() ![]() ![]() A test showed he had hepatitis A, a relatively mild form of the disease. Robert Hoff is what’s known as an “HIV elite controller.” In 1977 he developed what are now recognized as classic signs of acute HIV infection: achy fatigue, nausea and liver dysfunction. ![]()
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