HIV Cured?
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hXXp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130303172640.htm
Mar. 3, 2013 — Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University today described the first documented case of a child being cured of HIV. The landmark findings were announced at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Persaud, an amfAR grantee, detailed the case of a two-year-old child in Mississippi diagnosed with HIV at birth and immediately put on antiretroviral therapy. At 18 months, the child ceased taking antiretrovirals and was lost to follow-up. When brought back into care at 23 months, despite being off treatment for five months, the child was found to have an undetectable viral load. A battery of subsequent highly sensitive tests confirmed the absence of HIV.
Confirmation of the cure was made possible by a grant the Foundation awarded to Dr. Persaud and Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga of the University of Massachusetts in September 2012. The grant allowed Drs. Persaud and Luzuriaga to establish a research collaboratory to explore and document possible pediatric HIV cure cases. The collaboratory includes renowned researchers Drs. Stephen Spector and Doug Richman at the University of California, San Diego; Dr. Frank Maldarelli at the National Cancer Institute; and Dr. Tae-Wook Chun at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"The child's pediatrician in Mississippi [Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi] was aware of the work we were doing, and quickly notified our team as soon as this young patient's case came to her attention," said Dr. Rowena Johnston, amfAR vice president and director of research. "Because the collaboratory was already in place, the researchers were able to mobilize immediately and perform the tests necessary to determine if this was in fact a case of a child being cured."
According to Dr. Persaud, comprehensive tests have confirmed beyond doubt that both mother and child were HIV positive when the child was born, and today no signs of HIV infection in the child can be detected by the most sensitive means available.
The only other documented case of an HIV cure to date remains that of Timothy Brown, the so-called "Berlin patient." In 2006, while on treatment for HIV, Mr. Brown was diagnosed with leukemia. His physician was able to treat his leukemia with a stem-cell transplant from a person who was born with a genetic mutation causing immunity to HIV infection. Following the transplant, Mr. Brown was able to stop HIV treatment without experiencing a return of his HIV disease.
This new case points to the tantalizing possibility that different populations of HIV-positive people might be cured in different ways. While Mr. Brown's case was the outcome of a complex, high-risk, and expensive series of procedures, this new case appears to have been the direct result of a comparatively inexpensive course of antiretroviral therapy.
"Given that this cure appears to have been achieved by antiretroviral therapy alone," said Dr. Johnston, "it is also imperative that we learn more about a newborn's immune system, how it differs from an adult's, and what factors made it possible for the child to be cured."
The Mississippi case also underscores the importance of identifying HIV-positive pregnant women, expanding access to treatment regimens than can prevent mother-to-child transmission, and of immediately putting infants on antiretroviral therapy in the event that they are born HIV positive.
"We are proud to have played a leading role in bringing this first pediatric HIV cure to light," said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. "The case is a startling reminder that a cure for HIV could come in ways we never anticipated, and we hope this is the first of many children cured of HIV in the months and years to come."
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It should be pointed out that this girl was on a mix of medication when from when she was born well before the virus had a chance to develop. and its not a cure she still has HIV its just controlled to a level where the anti-bodies no longer need to be reproduced.
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:true: It's a dangerous title to day HIV is cured, we're walking towards that by using even stronger antivirals, however we must keep stressing that in no way should people start relaxing thir behaviour around security in the bedroom, we want to destroy this desease not keep it lasting for more and more decades.
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And as the Berlin man he had a very rare bone marrow mutation which only something like 0.1% of the worlds population have and they haven't been able to reproduce it at all, let alone in anyone that doesn't have that mutation and by the way his levels are traceable again. We are nowhere near closer to "curing" HIV
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And as the Berlin man he had a very rare bone marrow mutation which only something like 0.1% of the worlds population have and they haven't been able to reproduce it at all, let alone in anyone that doesn't have that mutation and by the way his levels are traceable again. We are nowhere near closer to "curing" HIV
The Berlin man has it traceable again? … I'm so sorry to hear that
I thought he had a genuine chance of freedom, I read that his marrow donor was the one which had the immunity. -
I'm a little skeptical on the concept of HAART having an impact on someone of such an age. What it doesn't mention is which tests were run to confirm the absence. This is a critical key in being able to determine whether or not this is possible. Also, it doesn't take into account that some people are what is known as an "elite controller", whereas even without treatment, they will remain at an undetectable viral load. Also, for the ELISA test, it doesn't mention anything about the number of bands that they looked for, as there are actually 8 of them that can come back reactive.
Just sayin'… I can't say for sure what exactly went down as I wasn't there, however from what I do know of the subject (and from living with it for just over 4 years now that I know of), without further explanation of the case and what exactly was tested, which ARV's were used, etc. it's quite hard to say as to whether or not this would actually work. The reason for this is primarily because if HAART can accomplish this in such a young person, why does it not yield the same result in an adult? Curious minds can't help but wonder.
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The reason for this is primarily because if HAART can accomplish this in such a young person, why does it not yield the same result in an adult? Curious minds can't help but wonder.
There are some biological pros and cons, the infant has more regenerative power, yet has less resilience, the time of infection and so on, yet I agree with you that it's true, this news normally come without a single info or link to a proper study paper, and that gets you always wondering about the truth in it.
