American researchers in Denver, Colorado have reported that a woman has been cured of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) in America says HIV/AIDS “has been one of the deadliest epidemics”.

According to abcNews, researchers revealed on Tuesday that an American woman has likely been cured of HIV after undergoing a new transplant procedure. These researchers say the procedure includes “using donated umbilical cord blood”. 

“The patient, who needed a stem cell transplant for leukaemia, reportedly developed a new HIV-resistant immune system following a breakthrough procedure in which she was genetically matched with umbilical cord stem cells that contained an HIV-resistant mutation,” their article reads.

The woman is said to be part of a study that began in 2015. The study was designed to monitor the outcome of 25 people who lived with HIV in the US and underwent a transplant, according to the Niaid.

The Guardian reports that she was diagnosed with HIV in 2013. “Four years later, she was diagnosed with leukaemia and in a procedure known as a haplo-cord transplant, she was given cord blood from a partially matched donor to treat her cancer. A close relative also provided her with blood to boost her immune system as she underwent the transplant,” their article states.

Niaid Aids division director Carl Dieffenbach told NBC News that “the accumulation of repeated apparent triumphs in curing HIV ‘continues to provide hope’.

According to abcNews, there have been “incredible strides in HIV treatment over the years that allow individuals to live a normal and healthy life”. They added that “there is no practical and applicable cure for HIV on a large scale”. 

The Guardian states that “although more than half of the world’s 35 million HIV cases are found in women, women only make up 11% of participants in cure trials”.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, a new variant of HIV was recently discovered dubbed the VB variant. Health-E News states that although the strain is ‘exceptionally virulent’, there is no need to panic. 

Gov.za says approximately 12,6% of the South African population has HIV. “South Africa has a very high prevalence of HIV and AIDS but is fighting back with the biggest HIV treatment programme in the world,” the website says.