The “Geneva patient” already has a name: Romuald. The sixth person to have been cured of HIV is a 54-year-old French-Swiss man. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, he spoke with Le Parisien and Swiss radio RTS. He breaks the silence about this “taboo and shameful disease, which we don’t talk about.”
The starting point of this medical anomaly: the year 1990. At that time, Romuald was 18 years old and pursuing a career as a model. It was during a period of depression, of great fatigue, that he discovered his HIV status.
Infection could mean death before treatments arrived, but he was quickly able to benefit from these products. He also did not suffer any unpleasant side effects. “I saw it (the illness, editor’s note) a bit like living with the virus. It didn’t bother me, so I didn’t bother it,” he says.
very rare leukemia
After about twenty years of living together, the Genevan patient ended up developing another illness. Lumps appeared on his neck. He had developed a very rare leukemia.
“At the hospital, in a dark 6 m2 office, they told me that without treatment I had six months to live,” he explains to the Ile-de-France newspaper.
To fight, Romuald endured three months cloistered in a sterile room, in addition to intense radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At the end of the course he will need a bone marrow transplant. However, doctors knew that five patients had already been cured of HIV after similar transplants.
Transplants that had in common donors carrying a genetic mutation that protected against the AIDS virus… Which was not the case with Romuald’s donor. Disappointment quickly gave way to surprise. The number of HIV cells began to decrease.
“No one understood how it happened. Even though there was no this mutation, it worked. And when they told me that, it was fabulous. There is no word to define it. I’m still thinking about it,” testifies the Franco-Swiss.
hopes
After 30 years of treatment, Romuald was able to stop his triple therapy. A difficult step to take, since he felt “protected” by the medications that allowed him to live with the disease.
Asier Zaez-Cirion, research director at the Pasteur Institute, speaks of a patient who “is probably cured.” You need to “check every cell” to be completely sure, which is impossible.
Cured of his cancer and probably HIV, the patient now turns to others. He plans to work with the research team, the one investigating the “Geneva patient” anomaly.
“I wouldn’t be here if all these people had been by my side. I have to be there too,” he confesses to RTS.
These scientists are investigating several hypotheses that could explain how what seems like a miracle occurred. A scientific publication on his case will be published in the coming months.
“I am, without any pretense, living proof that things are happening. And I am sure that soon there will be many people like me,” he testifies full of hope, after overcoming two often fatal illnesses.
Source: BFM TV
