Doctors Claim HIV-Positive Man Cured by Stem Cell Transplant

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Right, but drugs that manage (rather than eliminate) infections, particularly viral infections that mutate rapidly, are incredibly problematic in their own right, aren't they?

There's no guarantee that the current treatment methods won't lead to an increase in resistant strains (and, to be fair, no guarantee that stem-cell immunity won't be subject to mutation as well) - in fact, it's fairly likely that current best practices for AIDS aren't a long-term solution to the epidemic, right?

I realize there's a balancing point and that the oath you took carries incredible weight, and that it's clearly the best way to look at it from a single-patient standpoint. However, it seems that, from an epidemiological standpoint, the stem-cell method is worth exploring as a much-preferred long-term solution.

This post had many more hyphens that I initially anticipated ... more coffee I guess?

There are no guarantees in life. Of course we need to keep looking into newer and better treatments for HIV/AIDS. Please read the AMA Morning Brief posted by AOEforme as to why this is not likely to be a longterm solution to the problem of the HIV epidemic. They may put more research into this, but extrapolating a cure for all HIV patients from one patient who was "cured" after receiving treatment for leukemia and incidentally also having his HIV infection cleared from his body is a FAR stretch at this point.