Cure for HIV

NEWS: Geneva HIV patient cured? Can stem cell transplant help?

• A sixth person with HIV, being referred to as the Geneva patient, has likely been cured of HIV after receiving a Stem Cell Transplant(SCT) for leukaemia. The level of virus in his blood remained undetectable 20 months after his antiretroviral therapy was discontinued.
• The Geneva patient had been living with HIV since the 1990s and underwent a stem cell transplant in 2018 for an aggressive form of leukaemia. 
• One month after the transplant, his doctors found that there was a significant reduction in the number of HIV-infected cells.

Stem Cell Transplant

•  stem cell transplant (SCT) is a medical procedure in which healthy stem cells are infused into a patient to replace damaged or diseased stem cells.
• The transplant aims to restore the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells, boost the immune system, and treat certain diseases like leukaemia and lymphoma.

Stem Cell Transplant : Cure for HIV

• The recovery of HIV through stem cell transplantation has been more commonly observed in Caucasians because a specific gene mutation known as CCR5 delta 32 is more prevalent in this racial group. 
• People who inherit two copies of this mutation (one from each parent) are naturally resistant to certain strains of HIV due to the lack of receptors on their immune cells that the virus uses to enter and infect the cells.
• Stem cell transplant is unlikely to become a routine treatment for HIV due to challenges in finding matching donors and the mutation being mainly found in Caucasians. 

 Other Treatments for HIV

• Effective antiretroviral therapy remains the primary treatment for HIV, suppressing the virus and allowing CD4 immune cell count to bounce back. 
• Although it doesn’t remove the virus completely, it reduces viral particles to undetectable levels and prevents transmission to others.
• Other patients who have achieved HIV remission through stem cell transplantation include the Berlin patient, the London patient, and the New York patient. 
• Stem cell therapy using umbilical cord and adult stem cells may make transplants possible in people from other races as well.

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