Second Patient Cured Of HIV

SECOND patient cured of HIV gives hope of a global treatment.

An Argentinian woman has become the second person in the world to have completely cured herself of HIV, according to experts, and gives hope to the millions of people worldwide suffering from the virus. Despite having tested positive for HIV in 2013, the woman, in her 30s and whose partner died from AIDS, was found to have no ‘intact’ viruses in her system, meaning that while the disease-causing element is still in her body, it is by now virtually undetectable, according to Harvard scientists.

“Finding one patient with this natural ability for functional cure (no virus that can reproduce) is good, but finding two means so much more. It means there must be more people like this out there,” said Dr Natalia Laufer, a HIV researcher in Buenos Aires, Argentina, The Times reported.

“Her HIV antibody test showed she was HIV positive, but the level of virus was undetectable and continued so, over time. This is highly unusual.”

Known as the Esperanza Patient, the virus appears to lie dormant in “gene deserts” where it does no harm, rather than travelling to DNA where it usually rapidly reproduces. In fact, the patient’s current partner and baby are both HIV negative. The woman is considered to be ‘an elite controller’ and Harvard scientists believe that by finding more people like her, they can one day soon find a cure for the virus.

Professor Xu Yu, a HIV researcher at the Ragon Institute, Harvard Medical School, said: “The level of functioning virus in these patients is at least 1,000 times less than a patient who is on HIV drug therapy.”

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