"Our Bodies Are Amazing!": SA Marvels as Woman’s Body Rids Itself of HIV, 2nd Recorded Case in the World
- In Esperanza, Argentina a woman was diagnosed with HIV in 2013 and in the eight years since then, her body has 'cured' itself of the virus
- The case was published in a medical journal which referred to the woman as the 'Esperanza patient' and acknowledged her case as the second of its kind in history
- Previously, HIV patients have been able to curb the virus using stem cell transplants but the woman in this case not receiving any transplants makes it unique
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!
ARGENTINE - A woman in Esperanza, Argentina's immune system healed itself from HIV. This is the second known case in the world of someone's body clearing itself of the virus.
Archives of Internal Medicine, a medical journal, published this case study which referred to the woman as the "Esperanza patient."
According to the journal, doctors tested over a billion of the patient's cells and could not find an HIV infection in any of them. The woman, whose identity remains anonymous, was first diagnosed with HIV in 2013.
Source: Getty Images
How the process works
The woman had HIV-1, which is the most prevalent form of HIV in the world, as 95% of HIV positive people have this type. HIV-2 is a less infectious strain of the virus. 68% of South Africans who have HIV used ARV (antiretroviral treatment).
PAY ATTENTION: Never miss breaking news – join Briefly News' Telegram channel!
However, News24 reports that there have been other cases of people who were diagnosed with HIV and, without ARV, defeated the virus. This was achieved by using stem cell transplants, which are referred to as "elite controllers."
These cases were in Berlin and London respectively. The London case was a man who received stem cells from a donor who is part of the 1% of people whose genes protect their bodies from contracting HIV.
Reactions to Esperanza patient
@NonBinarySJ said:
"Our bodies are amazing!"
@blukwesa asked:
"What’s the secret or what remedies was s/he taking???"
@Julybulbujita shared:
"Excellent! Unfortunately the note 'forgets' to mention the Argentina’s researchers' names and teams thanks to whom also this immense collaborative work could have not been done."
@The_HaterSlayer believes:
"I have a feeling they are gonna say it was cured by Covid vaccine."
PhD student’s HIV research paper involving traditional medicine lauded
Briefly News previously reported that Khanyisile Mngomezulu, a PhD student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is studying the discipline of Traditional Medicine.
Recently, her abstract (a summary of the major aspects of her paper) was selected as the best in the Track A: Basic Science section. Mngomezulu will deliver her paper at the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa in December.
She will be joining health professionals, researchers and clinicians who will be sharing their intelligence in terms of ideas on HIV/AIDS and other STIs. Her study is called 'Investigating the Potential of Traditional Medicines in Reactivation of Latent HIV-1'.
Its focus is on locating medicinal plants - used traditionally - that have the ability to reactivate dormant HIV using models from labs.
Source: Briefly News
