The T-cell Killer HHV-6 May Not Even Need HIV to Destroy The Cells That Prevent Opportunistic Infections
  by Neenyah Ostrom  NEW YORK NATIVE/May 22, 1995   What sets off the cascade of events that results in the destruction  of the immune systems of "AIDS" patients? Although the putative causal  agent of the syndrome, HIV, is believed to orchestrate  the immune system's collapse, no one has been able to explain how it  does it. Meanwhile, another virus, Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV-6), has  been found to kill immune system cells directly-including T-cells, the  loss of which is the agreed-upon hallmark of the syndrome-without any  mystery or putative indirect mechanisms that have been attributed to  HIV. Now, new research from Robert Gallo's National Cancer Institute of  Tumor Cell Biology reveals that HHV-6 infection is required for HIV to  be able to infect some T-cells.  Not only is HHV-6 able to infect and kill these T-cells that HIV  is unable to infect, these are the very T-cells that are meant to  defend against HHV-6 infection. Therefore, HHV-6 is able to elude  de...