title: Considerations relating to the epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus infection: the impact of bacterial antigens and consequences for treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A treatment for patients with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is presented, which is based on an isopathic method that appears to be effective in eliminating bacterial antigens from the body. The concept is based on a new hypothesis concerning the outbreak and spread of AIDS in Africa and worldwide.
  
  
  METHODS
  Laboratory data are presented from five European and seven African patients with HIV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Oral administration of ultra-low doses of a lysate of Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (12c potency) resulted in a significant increase of CD4 T-cell subsets and CD4/CD8 ratios in patients with HIV infection as well as in advanced stages of HIV disease, concomitant with the improvement of clinical HIV-related symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on epidemiologic data, the beginning of the African AIDS epidemic is related-to time, place, and circumstances-to the initial large-scale introduction of antibiotics in areas of Central Africa that would later comprise the AIDS belt. It is concluded that certain antimicrobial agents can enhance the formation of persistent bacterial superantigens, which may indicate a link between asymptomatic HIV carriers and the development of AIDS. According to this view, superantigens and bacterial cell wall components remaining in the body after antibiotic treatment cause a permanent activation of the immune system and would thus favor T-cell infection and viral replication in HIV-infected individuals.
authors.affiliation: Homeopathic Research Center, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Theodor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Danninger
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gallenberger
authors.forename: Jutta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kraeling
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000187:drug effects*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D044383:Black People; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D001430:Bacteriocins; C030591:staphage lysate