BOOK REVIEW:

The Virus Within

By Nicholas Regush

Michael Wade Jackson

A02-92-6779

BICD 136: Dr. Nesbitt

November 26, 2002
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The Virus Within: Is HIV the Answer ?

Synopsis

Nicholas Regush in The Virus Within, challenges the central dogma of

AIDS diagnosis, treatment, and prevention by suggesting that human herpes

virus 6 (HHV-6) is the primary killer of T-lymphocytes in AIDS patients and

furthermore that HIV may be a trivial bystander in AIDS. Regush, utilizes the

work of many scientific researchers in the field of virology, as well resorts to

name dropping; Bob Gallo & Peter Duesburg. The evidence presented in the

work focuses on the multiple facets of HHV-6 and its role in patients with

Roseola, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The pivotal

researchers are Donald Carrigan & Konstance Knox who worked at the Medical

College of Wisconsin and are now running their own private research lab the

Institute for Viral Pathogenesis. The Virus Within follows the work of these two

researchers as they move to identify the role of HHV-6 in AIDS and its

significance in other ailments. Capturing the trials and tribulations associated

with being outcasts in the scientific community. “The Virus Within not only

reveals the lack of evidence that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS, but also

shockingly demonstrates the extent to which the medical establishment is fighting

to keep this quiet” (Regush, The virus Within).

Evaluation of Argument

HHV-6 causes AIDS not HIV. This is the central premise of The Virus

Within. The evidence provided to support this position comes from multiple
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sources which include the research of Carrigan & Knox1, Robert Gallo2, Howard

Urnovitz3, Peter Duesburg4, Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos5, Joseph Sonnabend6,

John Martin7, and Koichi Yamanishi8. The principle research evaluated is the

product of the endeavors of Carrigan & Knox. The two subject areas of research

involve the link between HHV-6 and immunosuppression in bone marrow transfer

candidates and the presence of high levels of HHV-6 in the lymph tissues of

AIDS patients. The focus of this research is to identify the killing potential of

HHV-6 which can be seen to attack leukocytes which are the guardians of the

adaptive immune system. The argument is then proposed that since HIV is not

observed to directly kill leukocytes it cannot be the main cause of AIDS, in which

the immune system is under severe attack leading to the onslaught of

opportunistic infection. The flaw within this argument is that HHV-6 is present in

approx 90% of North Americans (Nichols, Macleans p76) and in turn could be

1
Donald Carrigan & Konstance Knox. Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Identify HHV-6
in lymphocytes of HIV infected people as well as HHV-6 immunosuppression of bone marrow transplant
individuals. Research also includes Multiple Sclerosis. Started own laboratory after lack of sufficient
funding and termination of employment at Medical College.
2
Robert Gallo (NCI division of NIH) Co-discoverer of HIV and has represented HHV-6 as a possible co-
factor for HIV infection in research following the announcement of HIV as viral agent in AIDS.
3
Urnovitz is a medical researcher involved in the role of endogenous viruses. Endogenous means that the
virus comes from within the human genome and is already existent in the human genetic sequence. He
believes that HHV-6 is involved in chronic disease development and gene rearrangement in genetic
sequence causing disease.
4
Peter Duesburg is a faculty member of the University of California, Berkeley. He has written Inventing
the AIDS virus a 711 page work in which he argues that HIV was a rushed conclusion and that HIV
violates Koch’s postulates and is not a significant factor in AIDS but that “Toxic Hits” play a crucial role in
immunosuppression.
5
Is an Australian researcher who also contends the link between HIV an AIDS? Questions the very
existence of HIV stating that stressors cause genetic sequences to produce fragments that have been
characterized as HIV.
6
Sonnabend believes that HIV was a rushed one cause decision and that the medical establishment needs to
realize that AIDS is a disease which is a constituted of many causes which needs to produce a broadening
of the focus of AIDS research.
7
John Martin provides the basis for the link between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and HHV-6.
8
This Japanese OBGYN provided the principle investigation of HHV-6 and its relationship with Roseola.
This research shows that the babies with roseola which proves to be fatal have significantly high levels of
HHV-6 virus in the body.
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classified as an endemic viral infection in which the virus has developed a

symbiosis with the human host. This is a significant flaw which is present in the

text itself concerning roseola. Roseola is a childhood disease which has been

linked to HHV-6 infection and per Professor Nesbitt endemic infections become

diseases of childhood and are present in the adult population. These findings

correlate with the data presented that HHV-6 is an endemic disease of childhood

in the North American population. This conclusion further casts doubt on the role

of HHV-6 as the principle agent as it is so abundant as to be classified as natural

flora.

The second theory proposed by Carrigan & Knox comes from an

observational study of bone marrow transplant recipients which suffer

immunosuppression and then fall prey to fatal HHV-6 infection. The important

information in this research is that HHV-6 can become reactivated and prove to

be fatal. HHV-6 attacks an immuno-compromised individual and exposes that

individual to an AIDS like disease in which opportunistic infection leads to death.

The aforementioned latency is characteristic of other family members of the

herpes virus family including Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 which cause cold

sores and genital herpes, residing in the nerve cells until reactivated. These

finding are used to challenge the actual role of HIV in AIDS. The challenge is

short lived based on the following observation: 1) Per Professor Nesbitt, based

on the evidence that once HIV+ blood was removed from the blood supply, the

most effective mode of transmission (blood to blood contact), the cases of

transfusion related HIV/AIDS has been significantly reduced to a frequency of

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one in a million. This evidence suggests that it was the testing of the blood for

the presence of HIV not HHV-6 that led to the removal of contaminated infectious

blood products, providing a link between HIV and AIDS. In summary, these two

fields of immune suppression are the central work of Carrigan and Knox

exploring the role of HHV-6.

An interesting avenue of study is Multiple Sclerosis and the associated

demyelination of neurons in the presence of HHV-6. This field of research

suggests that the events transpiring in the MS sufferer’s brain may be similar to

the dementia sometimes exhibited by AIDS patients. This avenue has not been

significantly addressed by Regush to mount a challenge to the position, however,

AIDS related dementia has been shown to be the result of the JC virus which

causes sudden neurological problems. However, recent research Langford et al.

suggests that antiretroviral therapy could be to blame in the development of the

dementia as their research discovered high levels of HIV RNA but no JC virus,

EBV, HHV-8, HSV 1 & 2, or CMV. This evidence calls into question the link

between JC virus and the possibility of HHV-6 in the development of AIDS

dementia. The field of AIDS related dementia is currently too nebulous to

provide sufficient evidence to justify one position over another.

The main conclusion of this work challenges the central dogma of AIDS

research that HIV is the cause of AIDS. The information presented by Carrigan

& Knox is significant research but the issue remains that the evidence supporting

the link between HIV and AIDS is overwhelming and the occurrence of HHV-6 in

the general population is of significant concern, so much so as to list HHV-6 as

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an opportunistic virus that accelerates the immune system destruction associated

with AIDS but not the viral agent that is the sole destroyer of the immune system

seperate of HIV.

RELATIONSHIP TO THE CLASS AND LIFE

The Virus Within takes the stance put forth by Peter Duesburg that HIV

is not the cause of AIDS and suggests that HHV-6 is the viral agent. The

assertion though highly questionable does deserve some recognition. The quest

to find an ultimate cause of a disease may prove to be folly in the future and it is

this need to create a one agent perspective that is best captured in The Virus

Within. The book itself has challenged my beliefs surrounding the cause of AIDS

and I believe that the most significant challenge comes from the issue that HIV

does not kill but that the opportunistic infections that run ravage in the infected

individual are the cause of death. The challenges to HIV causes AIDS are

important to the maintenance of a open dialogue about treatment and prevention

of AIDS, however I believe the issue of interest are potential co-factors that may

influence the virulence of HIV. Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier both support

and have researched a co-factor approach to the destruction that HIV imposes

on a human body. Gallo himself has focused on HTLV-1 and HHV-6 while

Montagnier feels the culprit is mycoplasma with HIV as a co-factor (JAMA, 1990).

The crucial knowledge that is necessary to produce a vaccine to the virus or to

produce highly effective preventative measures can only be the product of a full

understanding of the culprit causing this disease. Therefore, it can be said that

challenges to the central dogma of AIDS research should only assist in the field
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of discovery and potential remission of this virus. This is an idealistic

interpretation of the facts as presented in this work as well in the reality that is the

academic research community. And the Band Played On only further elucidates

the conformity that lies within the medical community surrounding this disease

and the need to find an individual virus to gain significant funding to attack this

epidemic. When the pediatrician, Arye Rubenstein, presented the finding that

babies in his care were suffering from AIDS, what was to be a gay related

disease, he faced significant ridicule and was ostracized for implying that AIDS

was a general population problem. However, it can be shown that HIV affects all

individuals, not just gay men. This ridicule, however kept this research from the

mainstream public and further hampered advancement in the understanding of

AIDS. Should everyone believe HIV causes AIDS or should the support and

funding of research into alternate viral agents be increased to allow for

knowledge and evidence which may go undiscovered due to the closed nature of

the research community? This is the question that I take from this book which is

one of significance because without the exploration of alternatives the greatest

discoveries may never be realized.

The final analysis is the presentation of the work by Regush and his

sensationalism which contributes to the skepticism surrounding his research. In

The Virus Within Regush uses the narrative form to grab at the emotions of the

reader to convey the message of his work. This approach however is not an

effective means of dialogue on HIV/AIDS issues as it merely spurs panic and as

well leaves itself open to attacks not based on experimental evidence but based
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on its sensationalistic style. The book itself does throw in everything including

the kitchen sink. It discusses the possible route of AIDS from the polio vaccine

that was contaminated by simian viruses to the possibility that HHV-6 is so

significant to be involved in MS and CFS. I wonder if Regush when concluding

this work to gain a more varied reader base expanded his work to MS and CFS

in hopes of making up for a significant amount of HIV associated research.

Regush as well resorts to depicting the personal feelings of the characters

involved too such an extent that this book seems like a biography of the

scientists involved and their struggle in the scientific community.

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Bibliography

1. Carrigan, Donald & Knox, Konstance. Disseminated active HHV-6 infections in

patients with AIDS. The Lancet. March 5th 1994 v343 n8897 p577(2)

2. Carrigan, Donald et al. Interstitial pneumonitis associated with HHV-6 infection

after marrow transplantation. The Lancet, July 20th 1991 v338 n8760

p147(3)

3. Cotton, Paul. Cofactor question divides co discoverers of HIV : The Journal of

the American Medical Association (JAMA): Dec 26th 1990 v264 n24

p3111(2)

4. Duesberg, Peter. HIV is not the cause of AIDS Science July 29th, 1988 v241

n4865 p514(2)

5. Gallo, Robert et al. Infection of natural killer cells by human herpes virus 6.

Nature: April 1st,1993 v362 n64 p458(5)

6. Grace, Kevin Michael. The Hysteria Within Alberta Report: April 10th 2000 v26

i51 p44Goode, Stephen. Rogue Science or Reality? Insight on the News.

March 11th 1996 v12 n10 p16(2)

7. Horton, Richard. Will Duesberg concede defeat?. The Lancet: Sept 9th 1995

v346 n8976 p656(1)

8. Langford, T Dianne. Severe, demyelinating leukoencephalopathy in AIDS

patients on antiretroviral therapy. AIDS 2002, 16: 1019-1029

9. Nichols, Mark. A contrarian on AIDS: Could a common herpes virus be the real

villain?: Maclean’s April 10th, 2000 p76

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10. Regush, Nicholas. The Virus Within London: Vision Paperbacks, 2001

11. Shilts,Randy. And the Band Played On New York: St. Martins Press, 1987