Cure for HIV: Man wey be 66 years become fourth pesin to dey cured of virus
Wia dis foto come from, Getty Images
E be like one man wey don live with HIV since di 1980s don don dey cured.
Doctor say dis na di fourth case wey dem don record.
Dem give di man bone marrow transplant to treat blood cancer leukaemia from one donor wey dey naturally resistant to di virus.
Di 66-year-old man, wey no want make dem identify am, don stop to dey take HIV medication.
E say e dey more dan "grateful" say dem no fit find di virus for im body any longer.
Di man dey known as di "City of Hope" patient - dem name am afta di hospital where dem treat am for Duarte, California.
According to am, many of im friends die from HIV for di time wey antiretroviral drugs no dey wey fit give pipo near-normal life expectancy.
'I neva think say I go see di day wey I no go get HIV'
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dey damage di bodi immune system.
End of Di one wey oda users dey read well well
E fit lead to Aids (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and e dey make di bodi struggle to fight infection.
For statement, di man tok say: "Wen dem diagnose me with HIV for 1988, like many odas, I think say na death sentence.
I neva think say I go live to see di day wey I no go get HIV."
However, di man dey therapy wey no be for im HIV, but because e develop di blood cancer leukaemia for di age of 63.
Di medical team decide say e need bone marrow transplant to replace im cancerous blood cells. Na by chance, di donor dey resistant to HIV.
Wia dis foto come from, Getty Images
HIV dey go inside di white blood cell of di body by microscopic doorway - dat na one protein wey dem call CCR5.
However, some pipo including di donor, get CCR5 mutations wey dey lock di door and keep out HIV.
Three similar cases for di past three years
Dem closely monitor di City of Hope patient afta di transplant, and levels of di HIV become undetectable for im bodi.
Now e dey for remission for more dan 17 months.
"We dey happy to let am know say im HIV dey remission and e no need to take antiretroviral therapy wey e don bin dey on for ova 30 years," Dr Jana Dickter, wey be infectious diseases doctor for City of Hope tok.
Di first time patient dey cured na for 2011 wen Timothy Ray Brown - wey dey known as di Berlin Patient - become di first pesin for di world to dey cured of HIV.
Now three similar cases na im don happun for di past three years.
Di City of Hope patient na both di oldest patient to dey treated dis way and di one wey don live with HIV for di longest time.
However, bone marrow transplants go bring changes to HIV treatment for di 38 million pipo for di world wey dey currently infected.
Dr Dickter say: "Dis na complex procedure wit significant potential side effects. So, no be really suitable option for most pipo wey dey live wit HIV."
Sha, researchers dey look for ways to target di CCR5 doorway using gene therapy as potential treatment.
Dem report di case for di Aids 2022 conference for Montreal, Canada.
Prof Sharon Lewin, president-elect of di International Aids Society, tok say: "A cure remain di Holy Grail of HIV research."
She tok say dem get "handful of individual cure cases before" and dey provide" constant hope for pipo wey dey live wit HIV, and inspiration for di scientific community."
