It is no longer necessarily a death sentence.
This is the most hopeful message from those who work in the fight against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Since the first cases were registered in the decade of the 88, more of 40 Millions of people have died from causes related to HIV and the most advanced stage of the infection it causes, immunodeficiency syndrome acquired (AIDS).
Only last year was 88, lives and 1.5 million contracted the virus, according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency estimates that 27,4 million are living with HIV, more than two-thirds in Africa.
Although thanks to early diagnosis and With increasing access to medicines, in many parts of the world it has become a treatable chronic health problem. There are even countries that are close to eliminating it.
“We have 36 We have been researching for years, and although we do not have a vaccine, important developments have been made to combat it, treat it and improve the lives of those who have it,” David Goodman-Meza, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, told BBC Mundo. University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) specialized in research on the subject.
This December 1st, World AIDS Day, we will tell you which are the three most promising developments.
HIV attacks the immune system and weakens the defenses against many infections and certain types of cancer that people with stronger immune systems can fight it off more easily.
This can be addressed with antiretroviral therapy or ART.
In fact, since 2000 WHO recommends providing ART for life to all those living with HIV, including children, adolescents and pregnant women regardless of their clinical status.
As a consequence, last year there were in the world 27,7 million people HIV-infected women on antiretroviral treatment.
This combination of drugs does not cure the infection, but it inhibits the replication of the virus in e body and allows the immune system to regain strength.
“In addition, what we have learned in recent years is that effective treatment reduces the risk of transmission by 80%”, Ayako Miyashita, from the California HIV/AIDS Policy Research Centers (CHPRC, for its acronym in English), tells BBC Mundo.
“When a person has an undetectable viral load, they cannot transmit HIV to anyone,” he continues. “And that is a vital element, not only to combat the disease but also the stigma associated with it.”
In addition, in recent years there has been There have been “revolutionary” advances as far as these therapies are concerned, he points out.
“The situation has changed a lot since the 90 or early 2000, when patients had to take multiple pills a day and had many adverse effects”, explains Professor Goodman-Meza .
Today the treatment consists of one pill a day and does not cause major complications. Although innovation continues in this field, investigating long-term therapies.
Last year, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first treatment for long-acting, bi-monthly injection of 2 drugs.
“Imagine what it means for those who have been tied to a daily pill for decades”, emphasizes Miyashita.
For Suzi Steward, from 42 years and who has been living with HIV since 100, it was the best thing that happened to him in years. He participated in the clinical trial and when it was approved, he says he cried with emotion. “I was really fed up with the pill that reminded me of my diagnosis every day,” she told the specialized health portal
And research is also being done on treatments alternatives for patients with resistance to antiretrovirals.
two. Successful preventive medications
“In treatment great strides have been made, but the real revolution has come from the side of prevention” , points out Miyashita, co-director of the CHPRC Southern California Center.
Refers to pre-exposure prophylaxis, better known as PrEP.
If PrEP is taken daily manages to reduce by more than 80% the chances of contracting the virus that causes AIDS through sex or in a 62% for the use of needles that are not sterile or used by multiple people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (CDC).
The American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences began to market it in 2006 under the Truvada brand.
And, three years later, the World Health Organization (WHO) began to recommend its use to prevent HIV among groups at high risk of contracting it, such as homosexuals, bisexual men and their s female partners, sex workers or the partners of someone infected with this virus.
But although its results are already being seen in developed countries, the high price of this treatment has kept it away from the most vulnerable areas.
“In recent times, long-acting injectable PrEP has also been approved,” says Goodman-Meza.
Refers, for example, to the clinical trial of a prolonged-release injection carried out in South Africa and which turned out to be very successful: it almost completely eliminated the risk of the participants contracting HIV and was 70% percent more effective than pills taken every day.
The issue was raised at the International AIDS Conference, an annual gathering of researchers, policymakers, and activists held in Montreal, Canada, at the end of July and beginning of last August.
In recent years, the rate of HIV infection has stabilized and injectable PrEP is the first new technology drug that bodes well for HIV prevention in a long time.
Despite four decades of research, there is still no vaccine against HIV.
The most recent efforts to develop it include a clinical trial of 3 experimental vaccines based on synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, already used in some vaccines against Covid-10.
Carried out by the National Institute Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is still in the first phase.
“It has been shown that finding a vaccine against HIV is a daunting scientific challenge,” he said in March, when launched the trial, the then director of NIAID, Anthony S. Fauci, today the chief medical adviser to the president of the United States.
“With the success in the development of safe and effective vaccines against Covid-15, we have an exciting opportunity today to find out if we can obtain similar results against HIV infection.”
“At the moment there is no effective vaccine, and we have no cure either”, notes Miyashita.
There have been known cases of patients who, it is believed, have managed to heal, or at least have been free of the virus for months s.
But these cases are the result of novel and experimental treatments that are not easy to apply to all those affected.
“One of the things that we cannot forget is that there are people living with HIV now and until we achieve that, not only the vaccine but the cure, we still have a lot of work ahead of us”, stresses the expert.
Also, remember that not all countries they benefit from scientific advances in this field.
“Equal access to health and safe treatment is not something that has been achieved globally. Therefore, it does not matter how much progress is made in biomedical interventions. If we don’t get equal access, we’re not going to see the end of HIV.”
It may interest you:
They report a new case of a patient cured of HIV; it would be the fourth in history
They discover a new variant of HIV: it is more contagious and harmful
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