Researchers have found that people who are naturally highly resistant to HIV are unusually prone to getting West Nile virus. 1% of population lacks a cell surface receptor called CCR5 which HIV uses as an open window to break into human immune system. If you have no CCR5 receptor, you are highly susceptible to West Nile virus (mosquito-borne and causes flu like symptoms that can be fatal). This has set me thinking about how genetic mutations can confer advantages as well as disadvantages, and I intend to write more fully on this topic for http://www.mytherapypractice.com
Reference for the research is http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2006/ccr5.htm
