Bone Marrow Transplants: We have the cure for HIV - US researchers

According to research released on Wednesday, two HIV-infected men who also suffered from cancer, underwent bone marrow transplant to treat their blood cancers and shockingly show no sign of the HIV virus after the transplant.
They have stopped taking their anti­retroviral drugs and still show no sign of the virus. The reserachers confirmed that the patience stopped taking their antiretroviral therapy 15 weeks ago as of Wednesday and the other, seven weeks ago.

The virus came back in two to four weeks In patients who stop taking medication.  The researchers were very excited about it, but said they do not indicate that the men have been “cured” as they should be followed-up for at least one year to understand the full impact.

AIDS experts said the findings are important because they give hope that the HIV virus can be eradicated. They also 'stressed' that the public shouldn’t misinterpret this  new discovery as a proper “cure” for HIV. 

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview;

“The thing that needs to be figured out is how you can do it without putting the patient through such a risky experience. Whether that’s possible, we don’t know.

The Boston patients had 'very serious complications' and needed 'very dramatic' treatment. That included chemotherapy, followed by treatment to suppress the body’s immune system before performing a stem cell transplant. Such intense and risky treatments simply wouldn’t make sense for most HIV patients. The current therapy — usually one pill a day that combines three anti­retroviral drugs — is still considered the most effective treatment, as long as patients take their medication daily