It’s certainly exciting news to hear about someone who has been “cured” of HIV. However, it’s important to understand the specifics of the case and to be cautious in interpreting the results.
First, it’s important to note that there is currently no widely accepted cure for HIV. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can suppress the virus to undetectable levels, but it does not completely eliminate the virus from the body.
That being said, there have been a few cases in which individuals have been able to achieve what’s known as a “functional cure” of HIV, meaning that they are able to control the virus without the need for ongoing ART. In some cases, this has been achieved through bone marrow transplants from individuals with a rare genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV.
In the case of the person you’re referring to, it’s not entirely clear what led to their apparent “cure.” According to the report, the individual was diagnosed with HIV in 2012 and started on ART soon after. They then stopped taking ART in 2017, and subsequent tests showed no detectable virus in their blood or tissues.
It’s possible that the individual’s immune system was able to control the virus on its own after they stopped taking ART. However, it’s also possible that the virus is still present at low levels and simply not detectable by current testing methods.
It’s important to note that this is just one case, and more research is needed to understand the specific factors that led to this individual’s apparent cure. It’s also important to remember that while cases like this are exciting, they are still relatively rare and do not represent a widely applicable cure for HIV.