‘Miracle’ blood transplant ‘cures American man of HIV’

LONDON - An American man living in Berlin has reportedly been cured of his HIV infection with the help of an unusual blood transplant.

The man, in his 40s, had a blood stem cell transplant in 2007 to treat leukaemia and his donor apparently had a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to HIV.

Three, years hence, the recipient has no signs of leukaemia or HIV infection.

But the doctors have said the approach is not practical for wide use.

“It’s an interesting proof-of-concept that with pretty extraordinary measures a patient could be cured of HIV,” the Daily Express quoted Michael Saag of the University of Alabama, as saying.

However, he added that it is far too risky to become standard therapy even if matched donors could be found.

“We can’t really apply this particular approach to healthy individuals because the risk is just too high,” especially when drugs can keep HIV in check in most cases, said Saag.

Unless someone with HIV also had cancer, a transplant would not likely be considered, he added.

The findings were reported in the journal Blood. (ANI)