Umbilical cord blood cells cure HIV+ woman

ALBAWABA - An American woman who was infected with HIV+ has abstained from taking antiviral drugs after she underwent a qualitative operation that combines transplanting HIV-resistant stem cells from umbilical cord blood and stem cells.

Recently, a study was published in the "Cell" medical journal stating that, for the first time, umbilical cord blood was used to treat an HIV+ woman.

The cured woman, whose name has not been identified, was suffering from HIV+ and leukemia before she underwent a transplant of a mixture of virus-resistant cells, taken from umbilical cord blood, with stem cells.

International media reported that the doctors supervising the woman's case revealed that they decided to follow this remedy to avoid the dilemma of searching for stem cells that are completely identical to the woman, who was described as non-white and of mixed race.

Stem cells are said to have a specific genetic mutation called CCR5Δ32, which ensures that immune cells do not have an HIV docking site.

News reports said the genetic mutation in stem cells is only available to about 1 percent of white population. Unlike cord blood cells that do not require strict matching, and therefore it is easy to find a suitable match for the diverse races.

The American woman's cure case was announced at a conference on viruses and infection in Denver, Colorado, in February 2022, but the methodology used in her treatment was not disclosed at the time.

Doctors prefer to wait a few years before announcing a complete recovery for the woman who stopped taking anti-HIV drugs after 37 months of the operation, and whose health condition was described as very good.