The sixth person to be cured of HIV may be a European man.


Markneswin.blogspot.com came across this article at www.msn.com and with regards to Health Day News, that on 20th of July 2023 ‘’ A European man may be the sixth person to experience remission and be deemed "cured" of his HIV infection, despite it being extremely uncommon.

The man had been treated with antiretroviral medications since 2005 and underwent a stem cell transplant two years ago to treat a rare form of blood cancer. He had been initially diagnosed with HIV in 1990.

One of only six people, a Swiss man in his 50s known as the "Geneva patient," is thought to have either been completely or possibly cured of HIV. According to NBC News, the others had stem cell transplants as well for blood cancers.

The first five received the transplant from a donor who had a rare genetic disorder that makes them HIV-resistant, but this man did not, according to NBC News.

President of the International AIDS Society (IAS), Dr. Sharon Lewin, told NBC News that the case is "great news" and may "help in many ways in the work toward a cure." At the IAS Conference on HIV Science, which takes place in Brisbane, Australia, from July 23 to 26, scientists will learn more about the case.

The man who was taken off antiretroviral in November 2021 has undergone sensitive tests for HIV signs. Sáez-Cirión and others have found trace amounts of defective virus, but the possibility of viral rebound remains a concern. The virus may persist in rare infected blood cells or anatomical sites that have not been analyzed. This case may suggest that what was once assumed impossible might be possible. Dr. Steven Deeks, a leading HIV researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, believes that eliminating most, if not all, of the reservoir with chemotherapy was the key intervention.

watch this video:CAN Community Health | Morning Blend (WFTS Tampa, FL)

The man with HIV has been experiencing graft-versus-host disease, an immune reaction that can occur after a stem cell transplant. The newly rebuilt immune system may have cleared the old immune system, including any residual T-cells harboring HIV. The patient continues to receive immunosuppressive drugs to prevent graft-versus-host disease and may prevent the replication of any residual HIV. Scientists believe it will take decades to develop an HIV cure, as it is considered unethical to perform a stem cell transplant on someone without cancer due to the toxic treatment. HIV can also hide in non-replicating immune cells, and current treatment only works on cells actively producing new viral copies. Scientists will discuss post-treatment control of HIV in infant boys, the impact of circumcision on HIV risk in gay men, and the relationship between HIV and mpox at the IAS conference.

For more information on HIV, visit the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NBC News, July 19, 2023, as the source