大象传媒

A woman from Argentina appears to have rid herself of HIV without drugs or treatment - the second documented case of its kind in the world. Doctors believe the patient's immune system cleared the virus on its own. Tests on more than a billion of her cells found no viable trace of the infection, Archives of Internal Medicine reports. The findings are further proof a few people are born with natural resilience to HIV, and some have genes that prevent infection - but most people with HIV need life-long antiretroviral therapy (ART).

大象传媒 Science and Health correspondent James Gallagher says that this is distinct from other 'cure' stories, where the patients has had genetic protection against HIV or have received stem cell transplants. It is hoped that if this process of eliminating the virus could be harnessed, it might offer a way to wipe out or effectively cure HIV, but that this would probably take considerable time and research to accomplish.

Photo: Blood samples being checked for research Credit: Getty Images