In a major leap forward in the search for a HIV/AIDS cure, a person has been cured of HIV using a cocktail of medicines in what activists have dubbed a breakthrough as ‘œexciting’ as it was unexpected.

HIV, known as human immunodeficiency virus, hobbles people’s immune systems leaving them more vulnerable to once everyday diseases.

In a new study, presented at the International AIDS conference 2020, a patient on a relatively simple antiretroviral drug regimen was given a medicine commonly used to treat skin cancer.

Previous milestones of individuals’ HIV appearing to go into long-term remission resulted from bone-marrow transplants given to infected patients. Similarly, the transplants were intended to treat cancer in the patients, not HIV.

This could be a threat to the majority beneficatory of HIV drugs sales –GILEAD.

But bone-marrow transplants ‘“ on top of being costly ‘“ are unlikely to be realistic or reliable treatment options and are, at times, riddled with risk. Yet, this case involved no invasive medical procedures.

While they are wearily calling it a ‘œcure’ for the virus, it is difficult how to define the word when instances of the virus’ demise are so few.

Moreover, they said, caution must be exercised in pivoting the case as a success, as scientists must assess whether the outcome can be replicated.

And while the HIV epidemic continues, advocates have warned that the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic ‘“ its continually sweeping infection rates and how it is vacuuming the attention of scientists and healthcare officials ‘“ will no doubt knock back success made in recent years.

HIV did not ‘˜rebound’ in the patient even after being taken off of life-saving antiretroviral drugs. Dr Andrea Savarino, of the Instituto Superiore di Sanitá in Rome, Italy, explained to HIV advocacy group aidsmap he was one of five and was given an experimental drug commonly used as a skin cancer preventative called Nicotinamide as part of the study.

The medicine boosts the immune system, and some academics have demonstrated how Nicotinamide inhibits advanced stages of HIV infection in cell culture and works on ‘œmultiple mechanisms’ to reel back HIV, Savarino said.

By the end of the study, Savarino said, a common indicator of the virus’ presence ‘“ viral DNA ‘“ was ‘œundetectable’ in the patient. Savarino admitted this was not an ‘œoptimal marker’, ‘œbut it may give an indication of the size of the viral reservoir.’

Researchers have long struggled to find a way to destroy HIV reservoirs ‘“ clusters of infected immune cells that are not producing new HIV ‘“ but this strategy, Savarino explained, may provide a possible blueprint.

Even after the patient was taken off of his antiretrovirals treatments, ‘œthe virus did not rebound, the viral DNA was maintained negative’, he said. ‘œThe antibody response decreased over time, if the antibody decreases, it is possible that the virus has stopped its repetition.’

The other four patients did rebound.

The antibodies made to fight HIV have not disappeared altogether, but did decrease ‘“ ‘œhe’s still being monitored in order to understand whether the antibodies might disappear as in the case of Mr Timothy Brown,’ Savarino added.

Brown, often referred to as the ‘œBerlin patient’, beat HIV with a combination of stem cell transplants and radiotherapy following a diagnosis of leukaemia.

During the trial, only ‘œmild side-effects were observed from the cocktail of medicines: No real side-effects were observed from Nicotinamide, which was in-line with previous trials of the medicine’s impact on cancer.

However, the HIV expert stressed that those living with HIV should not take Nicotinamide in a non-medical setting, being that it is a potent and still experimental medicine.

We have had effective treatment for HIV for 34 years but 690,000 people died of AIDS last year.

They anticipate that due to Covid’s disruption of health services there will be an even greater number of AIDS-related deaths this year. People around the world are desperately in need of a cure and this case does give us renewed hope.