A British man may become the first in the world to be completely cured of the HIV virus following a new therapy designed by a team of British scientists from five different universities in the United Kingdom. The anonymous 44 year old is one of 50 currently undergoing the new experimental treatment which aims to target the disease even while in a dormant state making it revolutionary.
Scientists told The Sunday Times that presently the virus is completely undetectable in the man’s blood and if it remains that way it will be the first complete cure.
“This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV,” said Mark Samuels, MD of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure.
“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.”
HIV targets the immune system by splicing itself directly into human DNA of t-cells allowing them to reproduce the virus and multiply, this is what makes treating the disease such a medical challenge.
This new therapy works in two distinct stages, the first is a vaccine to help the body to recognize HIV infected cells so it can eradicate them, then the second stage includes a brand new drug Vorinostat that activates dormant T-cells allowing them to be spotted by the immune system.
Over a hundred thousand people in Britain alone live with HIV every day, roughly 17 percent don’t even know they have the disease and there are a predicted 37 million infected globally.
The first unidentified patient, a social care worker in London, said: “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.
“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.”
Some ground breaking news in the world of sexual transmitted diseases which hopefully paves the way of eradicating the most aggressive and un-treatable mankind has had to endure.