For the first time, a woman completely recovered from HIV
An HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) positive woman in the USA had another HIV test after a newly developed blood transfusion during her leukemia treatment; test came back negative.
The patient is believed to be the first woman in the world to completely recover from this virus. The HIV tests of a woman with leukemia who received a stem cell transplant from a person who developed natural immunity to the virus that causes AIDS have been negative for 14 months.
For the first time, a woman completely recovered from HIV
Experts say this method of transplantation uses umbilical cord blood and warns that it is not a suitable treatment for many people with HIV. However, it was stated that the method described at a medical conference in Denver on Tuesday was applied for the first time for the permanent treatment of HIV and is a critical development for the next steps.
It was stated that the patient, who underwent a marrow transplant with stem cells from a female donor in 2013, recovered thanks to a mutation.
Because the female donor had a rare mutation in the CCR5 gene. It was determined that this mutation prevented HIV from entering the cells.
The Düsseldorf patient stopped HIV treatment in 2018. Tests over the next 4 years found no signs of a relapse of HIV in the patient's body.
This meant that the disease was not in remission, that is, dormant. The patient had successfully overcome HIV.
"The third case of HIV-1 treatment provides valuable information to guide future treatment strategies," the article states.
