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By Shirley Genga
HIV and Aids epidemic has been with us for 30 years now, and within that span over 34 million people have been infected worldwide and 1.8 million deaths recorded, according to UNAIDS World Aids Day Report, 2011.
In the early years, HIV was untreatable and often fatal, making it the most feared virus of our time. However, research into the virus has led to the development of highly effective antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, which today offer a lifeline to people living with HIV.
ARVs have helped to restore health, prolong life and reduce transmission of the virus. Combined with tests that detect HIV, infection with the virus that causes Aids, is no longer a death sentence.
But the questions of cost, side effects, and drug resistance make lifelong use of antiviral drugs a less-than-ideal solution. It is for this reason that there is a growing recognition that a cure for HIV infection is needed.
Hope
Although the cure for HIV for a long time appeared impossible, there has been a buzz in the global health community that a cure is possible. The buzz began during the annual 2012 Aids conference, held on July 21 to 27 in Washington DC, where over 40 scientists from all over the world presented advances on HIV cure.
The inspiration behind the excitement was 47-year-old Timothy Brown, the only person believed to have been cured through a bone marrow transplant.
According to Dr Kizito Lubano, a policy and research analyst at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), when HIV/Aids first reported it was considered a death sentence but it is no longer the case. And Timothy Brown’s case proves it.
“His story is one of hope. This guy had HIV and Leukaemia and in the process of treating his Leukaemia through a bone marrow transplant ended up treating his HIV,” he says.
Brown’s doctor opted to give him a stem cell transplant to treat his leukaemia and rather than choosing a matched donor, they used the stem cells of a donor who had a CCR5 receptor mutation. The CCR5 receptor allows HIV virus to attach to the T-Cell and subsequently infect the cell, spreading the disease, and thus people without CCR5 appear resistant to HIV infections because they lack the gateway through which the virus can enter the cells.
Even though Timothy’s cure was miraculous, it was not without its share of controversy. His blood was taken in four million labs all over the world and no traces of the virus were found. Only a small group in Spain, claimed to have found signs but do not know if it was contamination, or the virus.
Complexity of the HIV virus
One of the factors that makes HIV so difficult to cure, is that it is a reverse transcriptase virus, it is constantly mutating, making it very difficult for the body’s immune system to keep up.
“A vaccine works by exposing you to a small dose of the virus, which causes the body to develop immunity to the disease,” says Dr Lubano.
On the other hand, a vaccine induces the production of antibodies, which recognise and bind to very specific viral surface molecules. But the HIV molecules end up with a variety of subtle molecular differences on their surface. In layman’s term, the HIV virus is constantly changing shape and colour.
Another challenge is that it hides in places within the body, that the blood circulation and defence system cannot reach.
Scientists have in past been perplexed by the complexity of the HIV virus. But with the increase in technology and research, in everything from early medication to gene therapy, it is only a matter of time before a cure is found.
Until then the best way to be safe is to: abstain, be faithful, use condoms and if infected, take medication consistently.
—The writer is a reporter with the Standard newspaper.
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