Doctors say a second patient has been cured of HIV

11 Mar 2020

Doctors say a second patient has been cured of HIV

Doctors say a second patient has been cured of HIVIn a big scientific breakthrough, doctors say that a second patient named Adam Castillejo has been cured of HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus).

What is HIV?

HIV is an infection that causes AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
 	AIDS is a condition in humans in which the immune system fails gradually. This allows life-threatening infections and cancers to thrive. Read more about it here,

What is the story about?

Doctors have found no HIV virus in Adam, even 30 months after he stopped taking medicines to manage it. This shows that it has been cured.
 	However, it is not the HIV drugs that have cured him.
 	Adam had received a stem-cell treatment for another disease, cancer. This treatment seems to have worked on his HIV as well.

What is stem-cell therapy?

Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells from a donor to treat or prevent a disease or condition. A stem cell is a cell with the unique ability to develop into specialised cell types in the body.
 	In Adam's case, the stem cells he received had an uncommon gene.
 	These stem cells seem to be able to stop the virus from spreading inside the body by replacing the patient's own immune cells with donor ones that resist HIV infection.

While doctors cannot say for sure if the virus will come back, they hope that this will help develop a permanent cure for HIV.

By law, HIV patients' identities are kept secret. Previously, Adam was known only as the "London Patient". However, he has chosen to reveal his name and hopes to be an 'ambassador of hope' to millions of people suffering from HIV.

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In a big scientific breakthrough, doctors say that a second patient named Adam Castillejo has been cured of HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus). What is HIV? […]

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