Scientists have been working around the clock to find a cure for HIV, and after years of painstaking research it seems they may have finally done it.
A 44-year-old British man could be the first person in the world to be cured of HIV. He was one of 50 people involved in a trial therapy designed to eradicate all traces of the virus, and now it seems there isn’t a trace of HIV left in his body.
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“It would be great if a cure has happened. My last blood test was a couple of weeks ago and there is no detectable virus,” the unidentified patient said. “I took part in the trial to help others as well as myself. It would be a massive achievement if, after all these years, something is found to cure people of this disease. The fact that I was a part of that would be incredible.”
Mark Samuels, managing director of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure, says the trials are a huge milestone, but there’s still a long way to go.
“This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV,” said Samuels. “We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and it’s still early days but the progress has been remarkable.”
Professor Sarah Fidler, a consultant physician at Imperial College London, added the therapy is designed to clear the body of all HIV viruses, even the dormant ones.
“It has worked in the laboratory and there is good evidence it will work in humans too, but we must stress we are still a long way from any actual therapy,” said Fidler. “We will continue with medical tests for the next five years and at the moment we are not recommending stopping Art but in the future depending on the test results we may explore this.”
[ H/T Telegraph ]
