Is it possible to live a HIV free life?

~ Written by Ekansh Rathore

HIV, otherwise known as human immunodeficiency viruses are a type of viruses which have the ability to cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), in other words, a degenerative disorder that progressively causes the rapid deterioration of the immune system and can leave the body vulnerable to diseases that wouldn’t be considered life-threatening under normal circumstances.

AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection which only occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus. Most people never progress to that stage as taking HIV medicine every day as prescribed stops the progression of the disease.

However, getting diagnosed with HIV may not be considered a death sentence anymore. Researchers have confirmed that Loreen Willenberg, 66, of California may be the first person cured of the virus without a risky bone-marrow transplant or even medications such as antiretroviral drugs that are responsible for suppressing and inhibiting the virus’ functions. Millions of cells from Willeberg’s gut, rectum, and intestine also turned up no signs of the virus, confirming that she had indeed been cured of HIV after she was first infected in 1992.

Only 2 other people other than Loreen Willenberg have been confirmed to be cured of HIV, and they are Timothy Brown of Palm Springs, California (dubbed the Berlin patient, as he was the first person to be cured of HIV when announced at a conference in Berlin in 2008), and Adam Castillejo of London (dubbed the London patient who was announced to be the second person to be cured of HIV in 2019) However unlike Willenberg, both the Berlin and London patients underwent life-threatening bone marrow transplants since they were both diagnosed of acute myeloid leukaemia and Hodgkin lymphoma respectively.

This is a revolutionary breakthrough, which presents us with unprecedented opportunities to help the 38 million around the world, who are currently living their lives while being restrained with HIV. This also leads us to understand a little bit more about autoimmune diseases and can help researchers with the future of potentially curing other autoimmune diseases as well.

References and further reading:

• https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/what-are-hiv-and-aids
• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/health/hiv-cure.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/05/london-patient-becomes-second-man-to-be-cleared-of-aids-virus
• https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/05/london-patient-becomes-second-man-to-be-cleared-of-aids-virus
• https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/infographics/hiv-aids/worldaidsday2015.htm