Good News: This Patient Is Believed To Be “Created” from HIV, Becomes Fourth in the World All

DUARTE, KOMPAS.com – A man is believed to have recover from HIV after living with the virus since the 1980s, making it the fourth case in the world according to doctors.

He got bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia blood cancerfrom donors who are naturally resistant to the virus.

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This 66-year-old man, who does not wish to be named, has stopped drinking HIV medicine.

He said he was “very grateful” the virus was no longer found in his body.

The man is known as a “City of Hope” patient, after the hospital where he is being treated in Duarte, California.

Many friends died of HIV in the era before antiretroviral drugs could provide near-normal life expectancy.

“I never thought I would live”‘

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) damages the immune system. This virus can cause AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), which makes the body have to fight against HIV drugs.

In a statement, the man said: “When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, like so many others, I thought it was a death sentence.

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“I never thought I would live to see the day when I no longer have HIV,” he said BBC on Thursday (28/7/2022).

However, the therapy given to him was not specific for his HIV, but because he developed blood cancer leukemia at the age of 63.

The man’s medical team decided that he needed a bone marrow transplant, to replace his cancerous blood cells. Coincidentally, the donor was immune to HIV.

The virus enters the human body’s white blood cells using a microscopic “door,” a protein called CCR5.

However, some people, including donors, have CCR5 . mutation which “locks the door” and prevents HIV.

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Healing is still the “Holy Grail”

The City of Hope patient was closely monitored after the transplant, and the level of HIV became undetectable in his body.

He has now been in remission (reduction or disappearance of clinical signs of a disease) for more than 17 months.

“We are delighted to inform him that his HIV is in remission, and that he will no longer need to take the antiretroviral therapy he has been on for more than 30 years,” said Dr Jana Dickter, an infectious disease physician in the City of Hope.

The first such case occurred in 2011, when Timothy Ray Brown – known as the Berlin Patient – became the first person in the world to be cured of HIV.

There have now been three such cases in the last three years.

The City of Hope patients are the oldest patients treated in this way and patients living with HIV for the longest time.

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However, bone marrow transplantation will not revolutionize HIV treatment for the 38 million people in the world who are currently infected.

“This is a complex procedure with the potential for significant side effects. So it’s not a great choice for most people living with HIV,” Dr Dickter told BBC.

However, researchers are looking for ways to target the CCR5 gate using gene therapy as a potential treatment.

The case was reported at the 2022 AIDS conference in Montreal, Canada.

Commenting on the findings, Prof Sharon Lewin, president-elect of the International Aids Society, said: “Healing remains the “Holy Grail” of HIV research.”

He further said, there have been several cases of individual cures before and they provide “continued hope for people living with HIV, and inspiration for the scientific community.”

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