For the second time in our doctors managed to cure a man that was diagnosed with HIV. This is the second time a person has been cured since the outbreak happened.
The unidentified received the stem cell therapy 3 years ago from an HIV resistant donor, he later on, went to continue his medication that will prevent the disease to grow inside his body, this treatment is called ART, which stands for Antiretroviral Treatment.
After going through highly sensitive tests and screenings, his body showed no signs of HIV present in his system.
Ravindra Gupta, the HIV biologist who co-led a team of doctors while treating the unidentified man, said that it is still too early to say that he has been cured of the disease, but he did say that he has been “Functionally Cured” and is currently “In Remission”.
The patient got the disease in 2003 and in 2012 the patient was also diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma.
In 2016, the patient got the stem cell transplant as he was going through the treatment for cancer and not for HIV. The doctors have not said anything about why the patient did not start with the Antiretroviral Treatment when he got diagnosed with HIV.
The donor who played a huge hand in the cure had a genetic mutation that is known as CCR5 Delta 32, a gene that is providing resistance against HIV.
Head of the HIV/AIDS division in the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that this is not the type of treatment that is applicable to everyone, and to those people who are diagnosed with the disease should not expect this type of treatment to become a stock standard for those who want to get cured of the disease.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said: “If I have Hodgkin’s disease or myeloid leukemia,” he said, “that’s going to kill me anyway, and I need to have a stem cell transplant, and I also happen to have HIV, then this is very interesting. But this is not applicable to the millions of people who don’t need a stem cell transplant.”
The unidentified patient has now joined Timothy Ray Brown, the only person that is known to be cured of HIV, he is also known as the Berlin Patient.
Timothy Ray Brown was diagnosed with HIV in 1995 and immediately started the Antiretroviral Treatment. Timothy Ray was also diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and also received a stem cell transplant from a donor who had the same CCR5 Delta 32 Gene.
Just after 3 months of his first treatment, HIV in his body started to drop dramatically and was listed undetectable after some time.
Timothy Ray Brown does not take any treatment now, usually, people who are diagnosed with HIV are advised to continue the Antiretroviral Treatment.
The second cure for the disease may not unlock the real cure to the disease that has killed over millions of people throughout the years, but this gives hope to those researchers who are constantly trying to find a cure for the disease as it may be possible to cure them in some circumstances like this one.