The HIV virus is considered incurable by modern medicine. However, that may change soon. A second case has just been documented in which an ill patient recovered completely. A stem cell transplant may turn out to be a cure for HIV.
A Londoner who is HIV positive after a stem cell transplant has completely rid his body of the virus. This is the second such case in the world. The first patient to be cured in this way was an American, Timothy Ray Brown. Twelve years have passed since the procedure performed in Germany, and the man is still completely HIV-free. Until now, Brown was the only person in the world to be cured of the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Now scientists have reported another such case.
Another HIV cure was published on Monday in the prestigious scientific journal Nature and will be presented at the HIV conference in Seattle. An anonymous patient from London started taking drugs for HIV in 2012. He was diagnosed with the virus in 2003. The man later developed Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer also known as Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2016, he underwent a stem cell transplant to cure cancer. The patient was extremely lucky because his donor had a rare gene mutation that gives natural immunity to HIV. After a successful procedure, the man stopped taking drugs against the virus. More than a year and a half has passed since then, and there is no trace of HIV in his body. The cure turned out to be a stem cell transplant.
Another case of a successful HIV cure is of great hope for all carriers of the virus. Unfortunately, such transplants are complicated, dangerous, very expensive and not always bring the expected results. This is a rare method that carries a lot of risk. There are also a number of contraindications to the use of this method. Nevertheless, scientists are hopeful and see stem cell transplantation as an opportunity to get rid of HIV. The story of a patient from London shows that Timothy Brown’s cure was no accident. This method can be effective, said Dr. Keith Jerome of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
Source: daily mail