It has been a few weeks since Moderna, one of the US pharmaceutical giants, announced the launch of human trials of an HIV vaccine. That got everyone excited because a vaccine would go a long way in fighting a virus that has threatened humanity for years. But there seems to be better news, as three HIV patients have been completely cured for the first time in history.
In a series of tweets, US-based science journalist Benjamin Ryan explained how for the first time it was “possible” to cure HIV in women using a cutting-edge stem cell transplant method. He added that scientists believe the new approach could make about 50 people eligible for treatment each year.
What are the details of the treatment?
According to him, “One person in history, Timothy Brown, must have been cured of HIV, and two others have almost certainly been cured. They received stem cell transplants to treat their leukemia or lymphoma, a disease with a rare Genetic abnormalities that make immune cells resistant to HIV.”
Benjamin also mentioned being both a good genetically matched stem donor and a carrier of a rare genetic abnormality that enables individuals with blood cancers to become resistant to HIV. However, a team at Weill Cornell Medicine has come up with a way to curb the problem.
The team found that transplants that integrated cord blood and adult stem cells made the two less genetically matched. Thus, women who were “probably” cured of HIV received HIV-resistant cord blood and stem cells from relatives.” – Benjamin tweets.
He also said, “About four years ago, this woman who was ‘probably’ cured of HIV had acute myeloid leukemia and received a dual stem cell and cord blood transplant with HIV-resistant genetic abnormalities. She has stopped taking HIV treatment. 14 months without any virus rebound.
The science reporter also said that because of what happened in the past, researchers are skeptical about announcing a cure for HIV to the world. In 2013, a baby thought to be cured of HIV was taken off the drug, but the virus rebounded after 27 months.
Source: https://youtu.be/0b0dliKIoQQ
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