HIV Patient 'first In Remission' Without Transplant
Faizan Hashmi Published July 07, 2020 | 07:50 PM
A HIV-positive man in remission may be the first patient effectively cured of the illness without needing a bone marrow transplant, researchers said Tuesday in a potential breakthrough
Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jul, 2020 ) :A HIV-positive man in remission may be the first patient effectively cured of the illness without needing a bone marrow transplant, researchers said Tuesday in a potential breakthrough.
HIV affects tens of millions of people globally and while the disease is no longer the automatic death sentence it once was, patients need to take medication for life.
In recent years two men -- known as the "Berlin" and "London" patients -- appear to have been cured of the disease after undergoing high-risk stem cell bone marrow transplants to treat cancer.
Now an international team of researchers believe they may have a third patient who no longer shows sign of infection after undergoing a different medicine regimen.
The patient, a 34-year-old Brazilian who has not been named, was diagnosed with HIV in 2012.
As part of the study, he was given several potent antiviral drugs, including maraviroc and dolutegravir, to see if they could help him rid the virus from his body.
He has now gone more than 57 weeks with no HIV treatment and he continues to test negative for HIV antibodies.
Ricardo Diaz, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Sao Paulo, said the patient could be considered to be free of the disease.
"The significance for me is that we had a patient that was on treatment and he is now controlling the virus without treatment," he told AFP.
"We're not able to detect the virus and he's losing the specific response to the virus -- if you don't have antibodies then you don't have antigens." - 'Provocative' findings - Diaz's findings were released as part of the first-ever all-virtual International AIDS Conference, held online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The United Nations said Monday that 1.7 million people contracted HIV last year and there are now more than 40 million people living with it.
Diaz said his team's treatment method, which needs further research, was a more ethical avenue for gravely ill HIV sufferers than the bone-marrow transplant route.
"They come with a high mortality rate, there have been a series of patients who have either died from the procedures or it didn't work," he said.
Sharon Lewin, co-Chair of the International AIDS Society Initiative Towards an HIV Cure and director of the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, said Diaz's findings were "very interesting".
She struck a note of caution however, due to the study's limitations.
She noted that the Brazil patients' antibody test had gotten weaker over time -- suggesting a diminishing immune response.
"This is very unusual to see in someone off antivirals," she said.
"The Berlin and London Patients may be the only exceptions. This very provocative data needs more in-depth analysis."
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From World
-
NFL will allow players to wear Guardian Cap helmets in games
2 hours ago -
Football: German Bundesliga table
2 hours ago -
Football: Italian Serie A result
2 hours ago -
Football: German Bundesliga results
2 hours ago -
US troops to leave Chad in second African state withdrawal
2 hours ago -
Plastics pollution may be solved without production cap: Canada minister
2 hours ago
-
Biden stalls on menthol cigarette ban fearing Black vote backlash
2 hours ago -
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
2 hours ago -
6,000 French police to welcome Olympic torch amid bonus boost
2 hours ago -
Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude
3 hours ago -
'Ballistic' Bairstow stars as Punjab pull off record T20 chase
3 hours ago -
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 2nd update
3 hours ago