health
Is it possible to cure HIV? Ten confirmed cases answer this historical question
Timothy Brown had HIV and in 2009, when he underwent cancer treatment, he did not know that he was becoming a milestone in the history of...
TL;DR
- Ten people have been free of HIV since 2009, with their remission achieved during cancer treatments.
- The tenth confirmed case involves a 62-year-old man in Oslo who received a stem cell transplant from his brother, who carried the CCR5-delta32 genetic mutation.
- This mutation prevents HIV from entering cells, and its presence in the donor significantly increases the chances of remission.
- While these cases represent a form of cure, experts often refer to it as 'permanent remission' because the virus may remain in latent reservoirs.
- Other paths to remission include spontaneous sustained undetectable viral loads post-treatment and elite controllers who naturally control the virus.
- Lessons learned from these cases include the importance of the donor's CCR5-delta32 mutation status, the potential for remission in older patients, and the role of the donor's immune reaction in eliminating infected cells.
- The article stresses that scientific advances are insufficient without parallel social change to reduce stigma and ensure equitable access to prevention and treatment.