Following the successful eradication of the HIV virus in a US woman as a result of stem cell therapy, scientists in South Africa say this cutting-edge treatment keeps the hope alive that researchers are on the right track to find a cure for the deadly virus.
The virus, which causes Aids, has eluded virologists for decades, and according to the UNAIDS about 38-million people are living with HIV across the world.
But Neetha Morar, senior research manager at the Medical Research Council HIV prevention research unit, believes there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Morar told Sunday World: “Research is slowly pointing us in the right direction. With concerns raised by people that scientists had easily found vaccines for Covid-19 but were struggling when it came to HIV cure, there is now renewed hope in South Africa that 30 years later, scientists have not given up on finding HIV cure.
“It also shows that HIV research technology is rapidly improving.”
Morar said the gene therapy procedure, which was administered to the woman known as the “New York Patient”, coincided with the clinical trial on HIV prevention vaccine being conducted in South Africa.
“This is an indication of South Africa’s constant contribution into the global health research studies and HIV vaccine field.”
The trailblazing programme known as PrEPVacc combines the evaluation of experimental HIV vaccines and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis. The aim of the study is to determine whether the combined regimens can protect against HIV infection, with the end goal being to create safe and effective HIV vaccines.
The woman, who has been described as middle-aged and of mixed race, was treated at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. She was diagnosed with HIV in 2013 and needed stem cell transplant for leukaemia.
It is believed that while being treated, she subsequently developed an HIV-resistant immune system. The complicated procedure involved a bone marrow transplant, thereby treating cancer while also curing the HIV virus.
There are three people known to have been cured using the same stem cell transplant therapy that scientists say might herald a new dawn in the race to create an HIV-free world.
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