INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY CAUTIOUS ON NEWS OF FIRST WOMAN BEING CURED OF HIV

Feb 17, 2022 | 0 comments

Saya P Jones
CAPE TOWN – The International Aids Society has cautiously welcomed news of the first woman to be cure of HIV/Aids.

The news was announced during the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in the US on Tuesday.

Reuters reported that the American patient, who also has leukemia, received a stem cell transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus.

Since then, the HIV has been in remission for over a year, without the use of antiretrovirals.

She’s become the third ever person to reportedly be cured of the virus.

President Elect of the International Aids society, Sharon Lewin, said that they’d be closely monitoring this development, but was not sure how this cure could be used on patients without a blood cancer.

“It’s exciting for the field because it proves that a cure is possible for HIV. We’re always a bit cautious in this setting because this kind of intervention, a bone marrow transplant, would not be appropriate for people living with HIV. This woman received a bone marrow transplant because she also had a blood cancer that needed to be treated,” Lewin told Reuters.