A second patient from London has been totally cured from infection of H.I.V after nearly 12 years to the day after the first patient was cured. Reports say that both the men who had H.I.V and cancer are believed to have been cured of the disease after bone-marrow transplantation was done to treat cancer.
AIDS or Acquired Immuno Deficiency Disease which is caused by H.I.V virus may have a cure in the days to come as according to the latest update on the health sector in The New York Times, a second patient has been totally cured from infection of H.I.V after nearly 12 years to the day after the first patient was cured. The news comes at a scientific conference in Seattle on Tuesday, where researchers had unbelievably reckoned that a patient from London appears to have been cured of H.I.V., for the second time only since the epidemic disease called AIDS, began.
Scientists have described the case as a long term remission and some are calling it a cure for AIDS. However, it is difficult to define the exact term as there are only two known instances, as per the reports. While the success comes from bone-marrow transplantation in the patients, it has been reported that the treatment was intended to treat cancer an not the H.I.V virus causing AIDS.
However, the transplantation, which is risky and has harsh side effects turned out to be a cure for both the patients. Scientists have also conveyed that the bone-marrow transplantation is unlikely to be a realistic treatment for H.I.V in the future due to its side effects and high risks. However, according to experts rearming the body with the immune cells that can resist the H.I.V virus might be a successful practical treatment for H.I.V infected patients.
According to the updates, both the men who had H.I.V and cancer are believed to have been cured of the disease after bone-marrow transplantation was done to treat cancer. It has been said that both the bone-marrow donors had a key genetic component called the Delta 32, that wipes out H.I.V viruses present in blood cells.
What is CCR5-Delta 32?
It is a protein on the surface of white blood cells involved in the immune system of a human body. The Delta 32 mutation occurs in a gene that directs productions of CCR5 i.e. C-C chemokine receptor type 5, also known as CD195. However, certain people have inherited the Delta 32 mutation which blocks a portion of the CCR5, which is required for a common type of H.I.V.
