How were 5 HIV patients cured?

Antiviral treatments now allow people to stop the progression of the disease and live normal lives. Antiviral treatments allow people to maintain their health while reducing the risk of transmitting the virus to others, according to the health news site Healthline .

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), by 2022, about 76% of all people living with HIV will be on treatment. The drugs used to treat HIV have two effects:

Reduce viral load: The goal of HIV antiretroviral therapy is to reduce the amount of virus to undetectable levels.

Helps the body restore CD4 cell counts to normal levels: CD4 cells are responsible for protecting the body against pathogens that can cause HIV.

Undetectable virus means no transmission

Two 2016 studies found that all people with HIV whose virus was permanently suppressed to the point of undetectability were completely untransmittable.

Latest targets for 2030

UNAIDS has set a target of achieving "95-95-95" by 2030.

• 95% of people with HIV know their status
• 95% of HIV patients are treated with antiretroviral drugs
• 95% of people treated with antiviral drugs will have viral suppression

The organization reports that some places have achieved this goal.

Stem cell transplant: 5 people have been cured

Stem cell transplants have cured five HIV patients.

The first person, dubbed the "Berlin Patient," was Timothy Ray Brown, an American who lived in Berlin, who contracted HIV in 1995 and developed leukemia in 2006. He is one of two people also known as the "Berlin Patient."

In 2007, Mr Brown had a stem cell transplant to treat his leukaemia – and stopped taking antiretroviral drugs. Since the procedure, he has been HIV-free.

Studies on many parts of his body at the University of California (USA) showed that he was no longer infected with HIV. According to a 2013 study, this patient was considered "effectively cured". This is the first case of HIV cure.

By 2019, two more patients were cured of HIV, named the “London Patient” (UK) and the “Düsseldorf Patient” (Germany). These two people had both HIV and cancer. Both had undergone stem cell transplants to treat their cancer. After the transplants, both also stopped taking antiretroviral drugs.

Both are now in HIV remission.

Then, in 2022, a study mentioned the fourth cured patient, a middle-aged woman, dubbed the "New York Patient" (USA). In fact, she had been in remission of HIV since 2017 after receiving a stem cell transplant.

In July 2023, the International AIDS Society HIV Scientific Conference (IAS 2023) announced the fifth patient cured of HIV also through stem cell transplantation, dubbed the "Geneva Patient." This man is now also in HIV remission, according to Healthline.

How far has medicine advanced?

Antiviral treatments now allow people to stop the progression of the disease and live normal lives.

Successful antiretroviral treatments can now stop the progression of HIV and reduce a person’s viral load to undetectable levels. Having an undetectable viral load not only improves a person’s health, but also eliminates the risk of transmitting HIV to others.

Targeted drug therapy can also prevent pregnant women with HIV from passing the virus to their babies. Every year, hundreds of clinical trials are conducted to find better HIV treatments in the hope that a cure will one day be found.

With these new treatments, there will be better ways to prevent HIV transmission.

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