“I never thought I would live to see the day I no longer have HIV,” said the 66-year-old, who did not want to be named.
A male HIV carrier since the 1980s is the fourth case in history to be cured according to his doctors.
As the BBC reports, he underwent a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment for leukemia, and the transplant came from a person who is immune to his virus.
He was being treated in Duarte, California.
“When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, I thought I was signing my own death sentence. I never thought I would live to see the day I no longer have HIV,” said the 66-year-old, who did not want to be named.
At the same time, he said that he was “more than grateful” that the virus is not detected in his body.
As he describes it, many of his friends died of HIV long before antiretroviral drugs could give people a near-normal life expectancy.
Doctors closely monitored the patient after the transplant and found that HIV levels became undetectable in his body. Now, the virus has been undetected for 17 months.
“We are excited that HIV is in remission and does not need to take antiretroviral therapy for the first time in 30 years,” said Dr. Zana Dichter, an infectious disease specialist at the California National Medical Center.
According to experts, bone marrow transplants are not considered a potential solution to HIV treatment.
“It is a complex procedure with many potential side effects. This makes it unsuitable for most people living with HIV,” explains Dr Dichter.
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