Countless people have already been infected with HIV and most of them have probably lost hope that there will come a time that they will be cured but this great news is obviously most welcome for all those affected. After almost twelve years, it was reported that a second patient had been cured. With this development, it only means that HIV infected individuals can have a second chance in life.
Both cases were actually a result of bone marrow transplants that were given to both of the patients affected with the disease. The transplants were for the treatment of cancer in both patients which also resulted in getting rid of the infection in their bodies. Though having a bone marrow transplant isn’t a sensible treatment in the future, there are other possible means of eradicating or controlling HlV. Another thing to consider is that undergoing the transplant may result in harmful side effects which the body may experience for several years. According to virologist Dr. Annemarie Wensing of the University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands, this breakthrough would mean giving hope to patients that there’s now a possible cure and they wouldn’t be losing their lives to the disease.
The first patient who got the cure was Timothy Ray Brown of California. He had leukemia and when the chemotherapy wasn’t able to cure it, the next option was to undergo 2 bone marrow transplants. The procedures he underwent wasn’t easy for him but came out of it HIV free. With this development, the scientists are studying this case further; doing a lot of other tests to ensure that in the future, those that have been infected will also be as lucky as Mr. Brown. On the other hand, Mr. Brown said that he is as positive and hopeful as everyone that the second cured patient will be as lucky as him.
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