Second- Ever HIV Patient Cured
Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2020, 07:29 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: DW
UK medical researchers have confirmed that the so-called London Patient, who suffered from the AIDS-causing virus, has been free of infection for over two years. But they warned against speaking of a generalized cure. For the second time in history, a patient suffering from HIV, the AIDS-causing virus, has been cured of the infection, doctors said Tuesday.
In a study published in medical journal The Lancet HIV, medical researchers from the University of Cambridge said no trace of the virus had been found in the patient nearly two and a half years after he underwent stem-cell transplantation treatment.
The long-term data comes after the researchers had initially reported no trace of HIV after 18 months. "The London patient has been in HIV-1 remission for 30 months with no detectable replication-competent virus in blood, CSF [cerebrospinal fluid], intestinal tissue, or lymphoid tissue," the researchers concluded in their findings, meaning no active virus could be detected. "We propose that these findings represent HIV-1 cure."
At the same time, the researchers cautioned that the findings did not represent a generalized cure for HIV, which causes nearly 1 million deaths per year. They also noted that the stem-cell treatment had been administered to address a separate illness...
Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/second-ever-hiv-patient-cured/a-52710280
'London Patient' follows 'Berlin Patient' pattern: The cured patient, referred to as the "London Patient," revealed himself as Adam Castillejo earlier this week. Diagnosed with HIV in 2003 he had been receiving treatment to control it since 2012. That same year he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a form of cancer.
In 2016 he underwent a bone marrow transplant, in which he received stem cells from donors who have a highly rare genetic mutation that prevents HIV from taking hold. This procedure led to the eradication of the live HIV virus in his body. (HIV "fossils" were found in his body, virus fragments that are incapable of reproducing).
Castillejo has become the second person to be cured of HIV. The first person, Timothy Brown, the so-called Berlin Patient, recovered from the illness in 2011 following a similar course of treatment. He had also been suffering from a blood cancer alongside HIV.
- Adam Castillejo says he wants to be 'an ambassador of hope.'
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51804454
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