HIV, which is accepted as one of the viruses of our age for which there is no definitive cure, causes hundreds of thousands of people to die every year, especially by causing AIDS. Although we have reached important milestones in the treatment against the HIV virus, this treatment has only been successful in a limited number of people yet. Today, there is another good news.
Scientists announced that thanks to HIV treatment, one more person got rid of the virus. The name of the patient who recovered from the HIV virus was shared as ‘City of Hope’ due to the fact that the center where he was treated is located in California. The patient became the fourth patient to recover from HIV with treatment, while also making him the oldest person to have survived HIV at the age of 66.
A rare mutation in the treatment of leukemia contributed to her recovery from HIV:
City of Hope, the second patient to be cured of HIV with treatment this year, recovered with a bone marrow transplant, which is used to treat cancer in the same way as previous patients. Diagnosed with leukemia, the man received stem cell therapy with a bone marrow transplant in 2019. The donor from whom the stem cell was taken had a rare mutation that lacked the CCR5 gene. This mutation made people resistant to HIV.
Descriptions of the treated patient:
“When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, like many others, I thought it was a death sentence. I never thought I would live to see the day I don’t have HIV.”
The patient, who has been infected with HIV for 31 years, has also received the title of the patient who survived the virus for the longest period of time. In addition, the fact that the treated patient is 66 years old can be a great source of hope for HIV patients, according to scientists.
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