Scientists Identify Second HIV Patient Whose Body Rids Itself of Virus

New Delhi: Researchers in Massachusetts have claimed that they have discovered the second such HIV positive patient in the world who has defeated this deadly virus without any different treatment.

According to them, a woman who was infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection got rid herself from the deadly virus without any drugs or treatment. Scientists believe that the woman who was infected with HIV got her treatment done in the year 2013.

Since then, the woman has not resorted to any kind of antiretroviral or transplant for the treatment of HIV.

Dr. Xu Yu, of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, led the study.

''The study shows a cure can also be reached during natural infection, in the absence of bone marrow transplants (or any type of treatment at all),'' she told CNN.

As per the norms, any person infected with HIV requires life-long antiretroviral therapy (ART) which is a combination of antiretroviral drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus, and stop progression of the disease.

According to the report, the 30-year-old hailing from Esperanza city in Argentina didn't start antiretroviral treatment until 2019. But after becoming pregnant, she began with the the drugs tenofovir, emtricitabine, and raltegravir for six months during her second and third trimesters, the researchers noted. After delivering a healthy HIV-negative baby, she stopped the therapy.

Notably, this is the second time in the world that a patient infected with HIV/AIDS has been cured of this disease without any different treatment.

According to reports, in 2020, Loreen Willenberg, a 66-year-old hailing from California, became the first person globally to be cured of HIV without medical interventions.

It is worth noting that all over the world research and studies are going on against HIV infection. Various treatments are also used to treat this serious infection. HIV is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person vulnerable to other infections and diseases.

The virus is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person infected with HIV, most commonly during unprotected sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV, or by sharing injection drug equipment. If left untreated, HIV disease can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

HIV and AIDS were first reported in India in 1986. Since then, India has come a long way in HIV prevention, treatment and care for HIV victims.

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