A German doctor said that a patient suffering from leukemia and infected with the immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS could be cured of the virus. A bone marrow transplant from a donor who had a genetic resistance to the virus is said to be the cure.
Dr. Gero Hutter and Thomas Schneider of the Clinic for Gastroenterology, Infections and Rheumatology of the Berlin Charite hospital reported that a 42-year-old American living in Berlin, is free of HIV virus after he received a transplant at their clinic two years ago as seen in tests on the man's bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues.
A health survey ranking healthcare systems in Europe ranked the Netherlands, according to consumer value, at number one despite having one of the lowest spending levels on medicines in the continent.
United Nations AIDS agency in a report said that if India is unable to check the steep rise in the number of intravenous drug users, HIV/AIDS infection will spread at alarming rates. There are already 2.5 million people suffering from AIDS in India and if unchecked, the number could easily reach 10 million by 2010.
An American team of researchers has identified eight genes that may play a significant role in leukemia. The study carried out at Washington University in St Louis, by Richard Wilson, who attributed the breakthrough to a fast pace of whole-genome sequencing that is now available at a low price. Wilson said the genes that cause other illness and diseases may also be discovered soon, which will help scientists not only understand the disease but to find a treatment for it as well.
