By Rosemary Onchari I oncharir37@gmail.com
Are you still wondering if HIV/Aids truly has a cure? Well, there is evidence to affirm this. This was one of the highlights at the 25th Aids Conference in Munich, Germany now underway.
Marc Frankie, 55, is not your ordinary man but a ‘Dusseldorf patient’ who had lived with HIV but got cured through a stem cell transplant. His case has been reviewed in the field of medicine of people cured of HIV.
While addressing the conference participants, Marc said he was diagnosed with HIV in 2008. Two years later, he started Anti-Retroviral Treatment, but was soon after diagnosed with severe pneumonia followed by Acute Myeloid leukemia (AML).
“Doctors suggested that I start chemotherapy. Everything went smoothly till in 2011 when the relapse of the AML happened. Unfortunately, doctors said the second chemo would not work,” Marc said.
After the stem cell donor matches were found, Marc suggested trying the same treatment given to the Berlin patient Timothy Ray Brown. About four months later, doctors discovered a blood sample of one of the donors with a gene mutation CCR5 delta32.
Unfortunately, after the transplant, only 30 per cent of his immune cells were detectable in his blood. Again, luckily, with the special treatment and use of T cells from his donor, his cells were cleared.
“I developed a problem with my liver and was diagnosed with diabetes. I started medication and six months later broke my hip and had to get a replacement. All this time I was taking immune suppression medication because of the transplant,” said Marc.
The doctors stopped the immune suppression and immediately got the graft versus host disease. This introduced more problems, including dry eyes. After a year, in 2018, they interrupted the ART. Several tests were done and the results were negative.
“Stem cell transplants should only be done to people with HIV and who have Leukemia or any other cancer, where the procedure is needed and recommends ART or long injectable treatment,” he concluded.
