Case Report of HIV Clearance

In the early 1990s, a group of individuals in Australia were reported to have been infected through a contaminated blood transfusion from a donor with a less virulent strain of HIV that had a deletion in the nef gene. The members of the Sydney Blood Bank Cohort appeared to have slower progression to AIDS, although several eventually developed declining CD4 cell counts or detectable plasma HIV RNA levels (N Engl J Med 1999; 340:1715). Now, a person in this cohort, termed C135, is reported to have cleared the infection.

C135 received the contaminated blood transfusion in 1981. In 1996, he had a positive HIV enzyme immunoassay, an indeterminate Western blot, and positive HIV DNA testing. Despite not being on antiretroviral therapy, C135 has rem…