2023-06-19 22:00:00
Less than 1% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) naturally never develop AIDS. These HIV controllers have the ability to spontaneously stop the multiplication of the virus without ARV treatment. This is the case of Sandra Harrigan-Thompson, who testified for the website The Body. Diagnosed with HIV in 1989, the 69-year-old African-American from New York has never taken antiretroviral therapy and says her viral load has always been undetectable and her CD4 counts have never been below 1000 CD4/mm3. After the death of her husband from AIDS, Sandra Harrigan-Thompson lived through a confused period: “I went back to live in Queens, near my parents, and I lived in denial because I felt good. I haven’t told anyone except my two best friends. It wasn’t until 1991 that I saw a doctor. He said to me: “I suggest you put your affairs in order” [autrement dit, de se préparer au pire, ndlr]. The years that followed were difficult, as I wanted to have another romantic relationship, but I had HIV and was raising my daughter alone. A doctor told me I should start taking meds as soon as my T-cells dropped to 900, but every three months I had tests and my T-cells were high — for years.” It was not until 2002 that the American learns that she is what is called an HIV controller. “I went to a talk group for HIV-positive people at Harlem United, but everyone was talking regarding the side effects of taking different medications, and I mightn’t participate in those conversations. At one point, I took part in a workshop and someone said to me: “You have to get in touch with researchers, because they are looking for people like you”. That’s when I opened my eyes. I said to myself: “Oh my God, I have value”. I was made to believe that I was going to die”. From 2013, Sandra Harrigan-Thompson began to participate in various clinical trials. People who control HIV are of major interest to researchers, who would like to understand how their immune system manages to fight the virus without ARVs. “We will only get answers if research is done. I believe in science”, explains the one who has been living with HIV without treatment for more than 34 years. Sandra Harrigan-Thompson, now a grandmother, hopes that this research will lead to a cure: “I would like the HIV/AIDS community to no longer depend on drugs and that the stigma [de la séropositivité, ndlr] disappear. I may be a controller, but I’m still living with HIV, and the ignorance persists. Young people are still infected with HIV. I’m trying to recruit my grandson to join me on a blog or something and encourage young people to get tested. I would like to be a force in generating more funding for research. With any luck, I have 12 to 20 years left. I want the end of my life to be the best possible”.
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