HIV and AIDS
The problem of HIV is huge, it is acute in many countries, including Russia.
Main article: Viruses
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a slowly progressive disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus.
HIV destroys the human immune system gradually and over time (in most people - after 5-10 years) causes a condition called AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
AIDS manifests itself in different ways. Some people have upper respiratory tract infections, while others have cancer and skin infections. Often, against the background of AIDS, people get tuberculosis.
Types of virus
VICh1 and VICh2 and their rapid mutation
HIV has enormous genome variability - the ability to mutate very quickly - much faster than, for example, the flu virus. That is why HIV is so difficult to fight: the development of vaccines and effective therapy rests on the fact that the virus is ahead of scientists.
To solve these problems, it is necessary, first of all, to know who we are dealing with - that is, to know about all the diversity of the virus, and how it is changing.
This is also important to understand for the purposes of practical medicine: if, for example, a new group, subtype or variant of HIV has appeared, diagnostic systems are needed that can determine them.
By June 2016, two types are known to exist - HIV 1 and HIV 2. HIV 1 is the most common type and is divided into groups - M (this group is the most common), N, O and P. Group P was discovered in 2009 in a woman from Cameroon who came to. France There are also many subtypes in group M. At the same time, new options are constantly being formed. It is possible that new groups and subtypes of the virus will soon arise.
 | HIV mutates extremely quickly. Much faster than the flu virus. For example, in 5-6 years, in one person with HIV, the diversity of the virus becomes comparable to the diversity of the influenza virus among all mankind in the world, says John Hackett of Abbott. |  |
This rate of mutation occurs for several reasons. First, when HIV copies itself, there are "errors" or mutations in its genetic sequence, which increases its diversity.
Secondly, HIV replicates (multiplies) unusually quickly: in a patient who does not receive treatment, up to ten billion viral particles are formed per day.
Thirdly, the virus has the ability to recombine: for example, if a person is infected with different sub-types of HIV, they recombine among themselves in the human body, which leads to the formation of a new variant of the virus.
2022: New HIV strain rapidly spreads in Holland
In early February 2022, in the Netherlands, a study led by scientists from the Big Data Institute of the University of Oxford identified a new strain of human immunodeficiency virus under the designation VB.
After analyzing the pattern of genetic variation among the samples, the researchers suggested that the VB variant first originated in the late 1980s and 1990s in the Netherlands. It spread faster than other HIV variants in the 2000s, but its spread has declined since around 2010. The research team believes that the VB variant arose contrary to widespread treatment in the Netherlands, as effective treatment can suppress transmission of the virus.
People infected with the new VB variant (for virulent subtype B) demonstrated significant differences prior to initiation of antiretroviral therapy compared to people infected with other HIV variants:
- In people with the VB variant, the viral load (the level of virus in the blood) was 3.5-5.5 times higher;
- The rate of decline in CD4 cell numbers in people with the VB variant was twice as high, resulting in a much higher risk of developing AIDS;
- People with the VB variant also had an increased risk of transmitting the virus to others.
| | Our findings highlight the importance of the World Health Organization's recommendations that people at risk of HIV should have access to regular testing for early diagnosis, followed by immediate treatment. This limits the time that HIV can damage a person's immune system and endanger their health. It also ensures that HIV is suppressed as quickly as possible, which will prevent it from being transmitted to other people, said Christophe Fraser, senior author of the study, a professor at the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford and the Nuffield School of Medicine. | |
After starting treatment in people with the VB variant, immune system recovery and survival were the same as those with other HIV variants. However, the researchers stress that because the VB variant causes a faster decline in the strength of the immune system, this makes early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment crucial. Further research aimed at understanding the mechanism that causes higher transmissibility and damage to the immune system in the VB variant could identify new targets for next-generation antiretroviral drugs. The VB variant is characterized by a variety of mutations spread throughout the genome, meaning it is not possible to identify a single genetic cause at this stage.
People with the VB variant had typical characteristics for people living with HIV in the Netherlands, including age, sex and the intended mode of transmission. This indicates that the increased transmissibility of the VB variant is due to the property of the virus itself, and not the characteristic of people with this virus.[1]
Diagnosis of HIV
Abbott was the first company to create an anti-HIV antibody test in 1985, that is, a test that allowed the diagnosis of a virus in the blood.
When it became clear to doctors and scientists that the diversity of HIV is so great, there was a need to create diagnostic systems that could not only identify all known types, groups and subtypes, but also identify new ones. After all, otherwise you can get a false negative result by missing variants of the virus in the sample, which the diagnostic system simply does not know.
| | Before donor blood is used, it is checked for infectious diseases. With Abbott equipment, 60% of the world's donated blood is screened for 2016, says John Hackett. | |
2024: Skolkovo resident registers rapid test for early diagnosis of HIV
The resident company Rapid BioSkolkovo has received a registration certificate for rapid test for early diagnosis virus human immunodeficiency (HIV). It makes it possible to identify the fact of infection for 10-12 days, the testing time is only eight minutes. The inclusion State of the rapid test in the register of medical devices allows the company to begin its production and sales. The Skolkovo Foundation announced this on March 4, 2024. More. here
2021
Large-scale genomic study among HIV-infected and HIV-exposed Africans
Scientists from the ITMO Center for Genomic Diversity and the Center for Genomic Bioinformatics named after F.G. Dobrzhansky St. Petersburg State University, together with the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities, conducted a large-scale genomic study among HIV-infected and HIV-exposed residents of Africa. As a result, bioinformatics have established that certain genomic variants affect the risk of infection and the pathogenesis of the disease. ITMO reported this on November 23, 2021.
Scientists analyzed data from 1,173 patients provided by the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute.
| | By 1996, it became apparent that AIDS in Africa had become an epidemic and threatened most of the region's population. We began trying to find genes that are associated with the risk of contracting HIV and contracting AIDS back in the 90s. We found about 50 of these genes. But the problem was that almost all of the studies were exclusively related to the white populations of the United States and Europe and the HIV-1B option. There were very few works about the African American population. The current publication is dedicated to a large-scale study of Africans, ― said the scientific director of the REC of Genomic Diversity of ITMO University, Professor Stephen O'Brien. | |
In the course of the work, scientists have identified three genes, the presence of certain variants of which in the human genotype increases the likelihood of contracting AIDS. Each of these genomic variants is also present in previously conducted studies among American and European patient groups, which confirmed the guess of the authors of the work.
The AP3B1 gene plays a critical role in the replication of the HIV virus and its release from cells. PRPRA encodes membrane receptors and is part of the protein tyrosine phosphatase enzyme group, which also includes genes responsible for cancer development. Finally, NEO1 encodes proteins on the surface of cells and plays an important role in the inflammation processes provoked by HIV infection. This gene is also involved in encoding antibodies that are part of human defense mechanisms.
As Professor O'Brien noted, AP3B1 is of greatest interest among these three genes. He is also responsible for such a rare genetic disease as Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Externally, this syndrome manifests itself as albinism and is often the cause of death.
| | Why do we think this gene is particularly important? When analyzing the genome of Botswana residents, we found that mutation of this gene leads not only to albinism, but also to immunodeficiency. And ― homozygote was not found for this mutation, neither among the inhabitants of this region, nor among all genotypes collected during the 1000 Genomes Project. This fact may indicate the lethality of the variant when it is present in two copies. The risk of getting AIDS is influenced precisely by the homozygosity or heterozygosity of this gene. This is very interesting from the point of view of genetics, I would like to study it in more detail, ― said Stephen O'Brien. | |
Botswana is in the region of Africa most affected by HIV (namely ― its HIV-1C variety). Among the total population of this country (about 3 million people), 25% are carriers of HIV infection. Among 38 million infected around the world, the share of residents of the African region is 65-70%. At the same time, large-scale genomic studies of African patients and the African type of the virus have not previously been carried out.
An important outcome of the study is that its findings were repeated for African Americans. This made it possible to clarify the role of not only the three genes already mentioned, but also 13 more previously studied genes, which, according to scientists, can give the carrier resistance against the deadly virus. The work done will allow you to study the HIV-1C option much deeper ― and therefore develop a method for its treatment.
Launch of production of the world's first combined tests for HIV, hepatitis and syphilis in the Russian Federation
At the end of April 2021, the production of the world's first combined test for four infections began in Russia: HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis. Test systems called "Multiskrin" are produced by the company "Biopalitra," which is a resident of the special economic zone "St. Petersburg." Read more here.
HIV vaccines
Main article: HIV vaccines
How the disease develops
Human immunodeficiency virus - a retrovirus directly affecting the human immune system.
The virus attaches and affects exactly those cells that protect the human body from infections and tumors, mainly T lymphocytes. When the virus interacts with the lymphocyte, the virus enters the cell and is embedded in its genetic material, remaining there for life, and when the cell is divided, it is transferred to the offspring. In this mode, the cell cannot live long and dies over time.
At first, the body compensates for the loss by producing new lymphocytes, but this mechanism is not enough for a long time. By gradually destroying the immune defense cells, the virus causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and a person can die from a banal cold.
Treatment
The virus multiplies inside immune cells and causes their death and immunodeficiency. Even with complete suppression of reproduction, the virus remains in the depot, so, unfortunately, it cannot be completely disposed of. Exceptions are extremely rare.
However, as of June 2020, many drugs have been developed in the world, acting on various stages of the life cycle of the virus. They allow you to keep it depressed, preserve the immune system and prevent the development of immunodeficiency. Life-long treatment is needed to maximize the outcome.
2024
Recognition of safe kidney transplantation from HIV-infected donors
In late October 2024, researchers showed that kidney transplantation from deceased HIV-infected donors to HIV-infected patients is safe and comparable in results to kidney transplantation from HIV-free donors. Read more here
In the Russian Federation, created a digital model of the main organ of the immune system to combat HIV and aging
Russia has developed a digital model of the thymus gland, known as the thymus, which plays a key role in the human immune system. This breakthrough will significantly improve treatments for HIV infection and slow down aging processes. This became known in early June 2024. Read more here.
2023
HIV-protective implant created
In late June 2023, a team of researchers from the University of North Carolina reported the creation of a safe implant that can protect the body from HIV for six months. It is injected under the skin with an injection, while the person should not feel severe discomfort.
The device is designed from a biodegradable material. The implant works as follows: after injection, the average plasma concentrations of cabotegravir begin to exceed the established benchmarks for protection against HIV. This helps to avoid infection. After analyzing its effect, scientists came to the conclusion that the development will be able to protect the body for at least six months from HIV.
The impact of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) on slowing the global HIV epidemic to June 2023 depends on effective drugs and delivery platforms. Oral drug regimens are the backbone of HIV prevention, but variable adherence has stimulated the development of long-acting delivery systems with the aim of increasing the availability, prevalence and persistence of prevention.
Therefore, scientists at the University of North Carolina have developed a long-acting subcutaneous nanofluidic implant that can be replenished transcutaneously for sustained release of the HIV drug islatravir, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used to prevent HIV. Islatravir-isolated implants were well tolerated, accompanied by mild local tissue inflammation and no signs of systemic toxicity during the 20-month study period. This refillable islatravir-based implant has potential as a long-acting drug delivery system for HIV prevention.
At the end of June 2023, researchers had already conducted clinical trials in mice and macaques. The implant showed 100% effectiveness, none of the animals suffered from serious side effects. The implant maintained a prophylactic concentration of islatravir in the blood and tissues of nonhuman primates for 20 months. The device protected animals from vaginal or rectal infection with monkey immunodeficiency virus (VIO). The authors showed that the implant is well tolerated by non-human primates. This delivery technology promises to improve adherence to prophylactic drugs for HIV prevention.[2]
A new gene therapy has been developed that completely removes HIV from the body
On May 1, 2023, Temple University in Philadelphia announced the development of a new gene therapy that allows not only the complete removal of HIV from the body, but also makes healthy immune cells resistant to the virus.
It is noted that the penetration of HIV into the cells of the immune system is associated with its interaction with the surface receptor, the CCR5 protein. At the same time, deletion (loss of a section of the gene) CCR5-delta32 leads to human immunity to the immunodeficiency virus. Several known cases of complete HIV healing are associated with bone marrow or stem cell transplants derived from compatible adult donors who had two copies of the CCR5-delta32 mutation.
As part of the new study, American experts have applied CRISPR/Cas9 genetic editing technology in combination with long-acting, slow-release antiretroviral therapy (LASER-ART). The second of these techniques keeps HIV replication low for a long period of time, reducing the frequency of medication. The goal was to simultaneously remove HIV from the body and inactivate CCR5.
Experiments in mice have shown that the proposed approach provides viral suppression, T cell repair and elimination of VICh-1 replication. Positive results were manifested in 58% of infected animals. It is noted that the data obtained during the study confirm the assumptions that CCR5 plays a key role in the development of HIV infection.
The new dual strategy, according to Dr. Kamel Khalili, one of the authors of the work, in the future can lead to the emergence of a simple and relatively inexpensive way to fight the virus in humans. The next stage of research will be experiments on primates.[3]
First woman cured of HIV with cord blood transplant
On March 16, 2023, the results of a study on the fight against HIV were released. Specialists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reported that for the first time a mixed-race woman was cured of the human immunodeficiency virus with cord blood transplantation.
The first person to heal from HIV thanks to stem cell transplantation in the treatment of cancer was Timothy Ray Brown, or "Berlin patient." He got rid of the disease in 2009, but died in 2020 due to a recurrence of blood cancer. Then he was followed by the "London patient" Adam Castillejo and the "Dusseldorf patient," whose identity was not disclosed. They all received stem cell transplants from compatible adult donors who had two copies of the CCR5-delta32 mutation. The presence of this mutation prevents HIV from entering the body's cells.
It is noted that only about 1% of Caucasians are homozygous for CCR5-delta32 mutation, while in other populations it is even less common. This limits the ability of stem cells carrying the mutation to be transplanted into mixed-race patients. To solve the problem, specialists in the framework of a new study transplanted a patient from New York carrying CCR5-delta32 cord blood stem cells for the purpose of simultaneous therapy of cancer and HIV. At the same time, cord blood cells were taken from one of the woman's relatives in order to increase the chances of success.
The procedure, performed in 2017, gave a positive result. The transplant led the patient to remission of HIV and leukemia, which lasts for four years (at the beginning of 2023). Thirty-seven months after the transplant, the woman was able to stop taking antiviral drugs against HIV. Tests show that the patient is HIV-negative for more than 30 months.[4]
2022: Scientists manage to clean hidden HIV reservoirs
Scientists have managed to clean up hidden reservoirs of HIV, where the virus is usually always dormant. These results prove that HIV is curable. The results now need to be confirmed in larger animal models to then move on to clinical trials. This became known on January 17, 2022.
HIV patients are forced to constantly take antiretroviral therapy (ART) to keep the virus under control. Treatment prevents replication of the virus and reduces it to undetectable levels, but in the body it is preserved in the so-called hidden reservoirs in a dormant state. At any point, for example, if treatment is stopped, the virus reactivates again.
A few years ago, scientists found a SUW133 compound that activated sleeping HIV so that antiretroviral therapy drugs could find and kill viral cells. Then, in a day, it was possible to destroy up to 25% of these cells. Now the authors have improved the approach and achieved 100% of the result.
In addition to SUW133 and ART, T-killers have been added to target and destroy the virus. This combination made it possible to completely destroy viral reservoirs in 40% of rodents.
| | These findings support the concept of a therapeutic strategy to completely eliminate HIV from the body, a task that has been almost insurmountable for years, study author Jocelyn Kim said. | |
Her team now intends to modify the approach to eliminate the disease in all animals. For January 2022, preclinical studies are already underway in primate models, after which it will be possible to plan testing of therapy in humans.
Meanwhile, another team of researchers previously unveiled a technology that also removes infected cells from the body by stimulating the immune system without leaving the virus a chance[5]
2021: Rare group of people with controlled HIV found that could help find key to treating disease
Abbott scientists have found a rare group of people with controlled HIV that could help find the key to treating the disease. The company announced this on March 2, 2021.
A team of scientists has found an unusually large number of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) testing positive for HIV antibodies but with low or undetected concentrations of the virus in their blood. At the same time, none of the group received antiretroviral treatment. These people were called HIV controllers. The findings could help researchers identify biological trends in this population and contribute to progress in HIV treatment and possibly vaccine development.
Researchers at Abbott, Johns Hopkins University, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the Protestant University of Congo found that the number of HIV controllers in the DRC is 2.7-4.3%, compared with 0.1-2% worldwide. The study initiates more research aimed at understanding this immune response, and the findings could bring researchers closer to their goal of ending the HIV pandemic by finding links between the body's natural suppression of the virus and future treatments.
| | Finding a large group of HIV controllers in DRC is significant given that HIV is a lifelong chronic disease that usually progresses over time, said Tom Quinn, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Global Center for Health, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' International HIV/AIDS Research Unit at the National Institutes of Health and one of the study's authors. - Before this study, only rare cases were identified when the infection did not progress in humans, but such a high frequency of detection is unusual and indicates that something interesting is happening at the physiological level in the DRC, which is not accidental. | |
Since the start of the global AIDS pandemic, 76 million people have been infected with HIV. As of March 2021, 38 million people are living with this virus. Abbott was the first company to develop an FDA-approved HIV test more than thirty years ago and understands the importance of virus research. The company has a Global Viral Diversity Surveillance Program to detect HIV mutations and hepatitis viruses, which ensures that Abbott's diagnostic tests are up-to-date. As the origins of the HIV pandemic are traced to sub-Saharan Africa, in particular the DRC, the region is of particular interest to the scientific community. The findings, from Abbott researchers and partners, are a continuation of efforts to find viruses that led to the identification of a previously unknown strain of HIV in late 2019.
| | Work in the field of global epidemiological surveillance of viral diversity allows us to get ahead of infectious diseases. Specifically in this case, we realized that we had found something that could be another step toward discovering a cure for HIV, "says Michael Berg, MD, PhD, Research Fellow in Infectious Diseases Research at Abbott and study author. - The global research community still has a lot of work to do, but using the data from this study and sharing the results with other researchers brings us closer to other treatments that could possibly beat HIV. | |
Plasma samples taken from an epidemiological observation conducted in 1987, 2001-03, and 2017-19 in DRC, the home of the oldest known HIV strains, allowed researchers to rule out false-positive results due to shifting collection geography, high genetic diversity, and antiretroviral treatment as causes of undetected viral load in 10,457 patients tested from 2017 to 2019. Abbott ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo tests and m2000 RealTime HIV-1 tests were used in the study to detect HIV antibodies and viral load ranges in participants.
| | Every discovery in the HIV study is another piece of the evolutionary puzzle we're trying to understand, "says Carol MacArthur, PhD, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, director of residency in pathology research at Truman Medical Center and one of the study's authors. Each of the fragments gives us a little more clarity, shows the direction in which we should move on, and contributes to the knowledge base that all researchers will turn to in the next stage of our work. | |
2020: HIV patient cured for second time in history
In March 2020, it became known that for the second time in history, a patient with HIV was completely cured. How this happened was reported by a team of researchers led by Ravindra Gupta from the University of Cambridge. Read more here.
Where HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of mortality
- lower respiratory tract infections;
- HIV/AIDS;
- tuberculosis;
- diarrhoeal diseases;
- malaria;
- measles.
The situation in Russia
Main article: HIV and AIDS in Russia
IN THE UNITED STATES
2020: 1.2 million people in the United States infected with HIV
According to rough estimates for August 2020, 1.2 million people in the United States are infected with HIV.
2018: US HIV deaths fall by 36.6%
Between USA 2010 and 2018, HIV deaths in the country declined by 36.6%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although survival rates among women and people of non-Europeoid races did not improve as significantly, and the death rate in southern states was about twice as high as in the Northeast. USA
According to the researchers, the number of people using the services of HIV centers decreased during the pandemic, but experts believe that the decrease in mortality was the result of the measures taken to treat and prevent the disease.
The director of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, attributed the success to investments in HIV patient care, including Ryan White's federal HIV/AIDS program, which provides nutrition, social and psychological care and others.
| | It's not just about medicines. Success was ensured by the entire infrastructure of patient support, says Dr. Marazzo. | |
Overall deaths among people with HIV infection fell by about a third, the analysis found. However, deaths directly related to HIV decreased by almost half, by 48.4%, while deaths from other causes among HIV-infected people decreased by only 8.6%.
Experts remind that the sooner the diagnosis is made, the faster patients will be able to receive proper care and treatment that suppresses the replication of the virus in the body. For example, the proportion of young people dying of HIV infection is higher than among older people because young people are less likely to seek medical care or lack health insurance, which reduces the detectability of the disease. In addition, women and black people with HIV infection are considered vulnerable groups, who, unlike gay white men, come from a wide variety of backgrounds and often refuse support. Experts note that they still have large-scale work to do to build patient confidence.[6][7]
In the world
2024: WHO: 25% of people with HIV in Europe are unaware of their diagnosis
In July 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than a quarter of people infected with HIV in the European Region were unaware of their disease. WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge noted that half of those infected will know about their diagnosis too late.
The European Region, which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia, has made significant progress in the fight against HIV, according to WHO. Diagnosis of HIV infection in 2023 increased by 4.2%. Hans Kluge noted that the health systems of the region have all the necessary tools for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV, which is provided free of charge and is almost always available.
However, despite these achievements, only 72% of people living with HIV are aware of their status. Half of them will find out about the diagnosis too late. This trend has continued over the past ten years, which raises serious concerns among WHO specialists. Kluge stressed that it is necessary to improve the availability and dissemination of information on HIV testing in order to detect the disease in a timely manner and begin treatment.
Kluge also pointed out that HIV continues to be a threat to the lives of many people. In the early 2000s, HIV treatment was early in development and not widely available, making HIV a death sentence for millions of people around the world. Since the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s, HIV/AIDS has claimed more than 40 million lives, and this, according to experts, is underestimated.
Europe is experiencing a rapidly growing HIV epidemic by mid-2024. WHO notes that timely diagnosis and treatment of HIV can significantly improve the situation. Kluge stressed that modern medical technologies make it possible to quickly diagnose and start treatment, which significantly improves the quality of life of patients and reduces the spread of the virus.[8]
2022
Europe's HIV epidemic is the fastest growing in the world
The World Health Organization (WHO) European Region is experiencing the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world in 2022. At the same time, all the necessary resources and technologies are available here to diagnose, treat and prevent transmission of infection. This is stated in the report of the Director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe Hans Kluge, published on December 1, 2023.
According to statistics, in 2022, 110,486 diagnoses of HIV infection were made in the European Region, bringing the total number of such cases to 2.4 million. In the total volume of new diagnoses, 71.6% (79,144) were made in the eastern part of the region, 20.3% (22,397) - in the western part and about 8.1% (8945) - in the central region. Of all cases diagnosed in 2022, 22,995 were identified in EU/EEA countries.
| | The WHO European Region is experiencing the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world. 50% of people here receive a late diagnosis - patients seek medical care too late. This trend has not changed for 10 years, says Kluge. | |
WHO notes that innovations in HIV control tools, such as highly effective pills that need to be taken once a day and affordable testing, have made significant progress in treating the infection. However, in the WHO European Region there are a significant number of people who are unaware that they are living with HIV. It is estimated that only 72% of those infected are aware of their status: many people are hesitant to seek testing and treatment services.
| | In the last [2022] year alone, one in six people living with HIV avoided health services for fear of being treated differently from other patients. Stigma in medical institutions leads to the fact that people refuse medical care, which, in turn, leads to a late diagnosis of the disease and a late start of treatment for HIV infection, the WHO said.[9] | |
First time HIV patient cured by transfusion of baby's' mutant'blood resistant to virus
In mid-February 2022, doctors from the United States cured the patient from the human immunodeficiency virus with a stem cell transplant and transfusion of the "mutant" blood of the baby. The patient became the fourth person in the world to defeat the disease, as well as the first to be cured in this way.
A team of researchers revealed some details of the case at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver. In 2013, the patient was diagnosed with HIV. In 2017, the patient was diagnosed with leukemia for everything. In a procedure known as haplocord transplantation, which is necessary to treat cancer, the patient was transfused with cord blood from a partially suitable donor. A woman was transfused with the blood of a newborn with strong immune cells. In addition, he had an HIV-resistant mutation.
A close relative also provided blood for her to strengthen her immune system during the transplant. At the second stage, adult stem cells are additionally introduced into the patient. These stem cells grow rapidly, but are replaced by cord blood cells over time. After the transplant performed on the woman in August 2017, the patient was in remission from leukemia until 2021. Scientists note that since 2020, the patient's HIV treatment has been stopped, and until February 2022, the woman did not face a resurgence of the virus.
| | In the US, we estimate that approximately 50 patients a year may benefit from this procedure. The ability to use overlapping cord blood transplants significantly increases the likelihood of finding suitable donors for such patients. The fact that she is mixed race and that she is a woman is very important scientifically and very important in terms of influencing society. Such patients serve as a source of inspiration for scientists, as well as a roadmap for this area, "said one of the doctors involved in the treatment of the patient Koen van Besien. | |
Despite the fact that more than half of the world's 35 million HIV cases are women, women make up only 11% of drug trial participants. Although cord blood is more adaptive than adult stem cells, it is not enough to effectively treat cancer in adults. Therefore, when transplanting a haplocord, an additional stem cell transplant helps to replenish the shortage of cord blood cells. The role of adult donor cells is to accelerate the early engraftment process and facilitate and improve the safety of transplantation. The possibility of overlap could open up the potential to treat patients who have both HIV and cancer, as well as those in more diverse racial groups.[10]
2021
Russia entered the top five countries in terms of HIV spread
Russia entered the top five countries in terms of HIV spread. This is evidenced by the data released in December 2022 by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for 2021.
According to published statistics, Russia in 2021 accounted for 3.9% of 1.5 million new cases of HIV infection in 2021. According to this indicator, the country was bypassed only by South Africa (14%), Mozambique (6.5%), Nigeria (4.9%) and India (4.2%). At the same time, the result turned out to be better in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya and Brazil.
According to UNAIDS, the number of new HIV infections was 1 million more than the forecast that experts from international organizations expected to see in 2020. Since the beginning of the century, the number of new HIV-infected people has halved. In particular, in 2000, more than 2.9 million new infections were recorded. Despite the declining dynamics, the number of cases over 20 years has grown from 26 to 38 million people.
According to the situation with HIV in Russia, there are other data. According to the chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health on HIV infection Alexei Mazus, in Russia at the end of 2021 there are 851,754 infected. The specialist called the situation with infection in Russia stable and stressed that this is due to the high level of testing and, as a result, the detection of the disease at an early stage.
The ministry also recalled that in Russia every eleventh patient does not know about his diagnosis, while in Europe - every eighth. The Ministry of Health claims that such data allow us to talk about a hidden epidemic of HIV infection in the European region.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, citing data from Russia, annually contributes the country to the lists of anti-leaders, but the situation, as follows from the annual ECDC reports, is improving every year. So, at the end of 2019, Russia became the region with the highest rates of HIV incidence in Europe per 100 thousand population - 54.9 cases. While in 2018 and 2017, 59 and 71.1 cases per 100 thousand population were recorded in the country, respectively.[11]
680 thousand people died from HIV and AIDS
2020
Countries with the highest number of new HIV infections
37 million HIV patients
According to WHO, in 2020, the number of HIV patients in the world was more than 37 million people.
2018: Epidemic in Africa
2017: 36.9 million people with HIV infection
According to UNAIDS, 77.3 million cases of HIV infection have been registered in the world since the beginning of the HIV epidemic. By 2017, the number of people living with HIV was 36.9 million, receiving therapy 21.7 million people, which reduced the death rate due to AIDS by 51% from the peak in 2004[12].
2016:34 million people with HIV infection, 2.7 million new cases per year
By June 2016, more than 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV infection, and more than 2.7 million new cases are recorded each year.
Notes
- ↑ Discovery of new highly virulent and damaging HIV variant in the Netherlands
- ↑ Long-acting refillable nanofluidic implant confers protection against SHIV infection in nonhuman primates
- ↑ Chances of eliminating HIV infection increased by novel dual gene-editing approach
- ↑ Case report of first mixed race woman possibly cured of HIV published in Cell
- ↑ The new technology completely cured mice of HIV.
- ↑ [1] Vital Signs: Deaths Among Persons with Diagnosed HIV Infection, United States, 2010–2018 H.I.V. Death Rates Fell by Half, C.D.C. Says
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ More than a quarter of people with HIV in the European Region are unaware of their diagnosis
- ↑ World AIDS Day: The WHO European Region has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world
- ↑ Woman Appears Cured of HIV After Umbilical-Cord Blood Transplant
- ↑ Russia found a place in the top five
- ↑ Learn to live
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