Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Surprise Success Ridding Second Person Of HIV Offers Tentative Hope: Finding A 'Cure Is Not A Dream, It's Reachable'
The New York Times: H.I.V. Is Reported Cured In A Second Patient, A Milestone In The Global AIDS Epidemic
For just the second time since the global epidemic began, a patient appears to have been cured of infection with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The news comes nearly 12 years to the day after the first patient known to be cured, a feat that researchers have long tried, and failed, to duplicate. The surprise success now confirms that a cure for H.I.V. infection is possible, if difficult, researchers said. The investigators are to publish their report on Tuesday in the journal Nature and to present some of the details at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle. (Mandavilli, 3/4)
The Associated Press: Second Man Seems To Be Free Of AIDS Virus After Transplant
The therapy had an early success with Timothy Ray Brown, a U.S. man treated in Germany who is 12 years post-transplant and still free of HIV. Until now, Brown is the only person thought to have been cured of infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Such transplants are dangerous and have failed in other patients. They're also impractical to try to cure the millions already infected. The latest case "shows the cure of Timothy Brown was not a fluke and can be recreated," said Dr. Keith Jerome of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who had no role. He added that it could lead to a simpler approach that could be used more widely. (Johnson, 3/4)
The Washington Post: HIV Cure: A Second Patient Is In Long-Term Remission After Stem Cell Transplant, Researchers Say
“I think this is really quite significant. It shows the Berlin patient was not just a one-off, that this is a rational approach in limited circumstances,” said Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who was not involved in the study. “Nobody doubted the truth of the report with the Berlin patient, but it was one patient. And which of the many things that were done to him contributed to the apparent cure? It wasn’t clear this could be reproduced.” (Johnson, 3/4)
The Wall Street Journal: Second HIV Patient May Be Cured After Stem-Cell Transplant
A London man infected with HIV may be the second person to beat the virus that causes AIDS, researchers reported Monday, a finding advancing the costly and challenging search for a cure. Nearly three years after the man received a stem-cell transplant from a donor who was genetically resistant to HIV, extensive testing shows he has no detectable amounts of the virus, according to the research, published in the journal Nature. He has been off antiretroviral drugs for about 18 months. Those drugs keep HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in check. (McKay, 3/4)
