Woman’s Body Appears to Rid Itself of HIV

Researchers report what appears to be the second case of a person’s immune system clearing the virus on its own.

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| 3 min read
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An HIV-infected T cell

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Human immunodeficiency virus is notorious for its persistence. The virus can lurk within the body for decades and attacks immune cells, compromising a person’s ability to fight other infections. If untreated, HIV infections nearly always progress into AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which is lethal without intervention. But for the second time, researchers have found a person whose body seems to have managed to rid itself of the virus.

Published in Annals of Internal Medicine on November 16, the case report details a likely “sterilizing cure” of an HIV-1 infection. The only other potential case was reported in a 2020 Nature study of elite controllers—rare individuals whose immune systems can limit the replication of HIV without antiretroviral drugs.

In the 2020 study, researchers attempted to determine the persistence of HIV over several years in 64 elite controllers by sequencing copies of the viral genome that had integrated into their cells’ ...

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Meet the Author

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    Chloe Tenn

    Chloe Tenn is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she studied neurobiology, English, and forensic science. Fascinated by the intersection of science and society, she has written for organizations such as NC Sea Grant and the Smithsonian. Chloe also works as a freelancer with AZoNetwork, where she ghostwrites content for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food, energy, and environmental companies. She recently completed her MSc Science Communication from the University of Manchester, where she researched how online communication impacts disease stigma. You can check out more of her work here.

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