translated from Spanish: A cure against HIV?

with more than 37 million people infected around the world, was to be expected that the results presented by the journal Nature on the second person “cured” HIV is eat, literally, the portals of news from around the world, what demu stresses once more enormous anxiety journalism to find a shocking news rather than give an account of the relevance of the scientific results. The discovery of a cure for HIV is, for many years, a huge challenge for the scientific community, by which any progress, by smaller, that represents a huge victory for the knowledge and, at the same time, a hope for all mankind. 
Human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus has as target the immune system, just responsible for protecting us from external agents such as viruses, fungi and bacteria. Its main programme of action is to weaken our immune system against infections and certain types of cancer. Although there is no consensus on the origin of the virus in nature, we know perfectly well the way in which we exposed to contagion and what is the best way to protect us. Since the virus is transmitted through body fluids of infected persons (semen, vaginal secretions, blood and breast milk), and does not through another type of contact such as kissing or hugging, the precautions that we should always bear in mind are use condoms during sex and avoid sharing syringes. 
Now, and thanks to the advancement of science, there are treatments that combine three or more antiretroviral drugs, or drugs that attack the retrovirus. These drugs are intended to prevent the virus to be replicated in our body. Therefore, having less amount of virus in the body, the immune system has more chances to recover and defend us from the infections. has the disease from these retroviral treatments can cure?
If the treatment is successful, the viral load becomes undetectable, and as a result there is no risk of transmitting the virus, for example, through sexual intercourse. But while the treatment is a huge step forward for the health of patients, the virus does not disappear completely. In other words, to date there is no cure for HIV, at least not one that has mass. Within the spectrum of possible treatments, there is the transfusion of stem cells, which only case of success until yesterday was that of Timothy Brown, also called Berlin patient patient. The news is that after 12 years, a second person has been, through a treatment very similar to the one done on the Berlin patient, return undetectable virus in his body. How is the treatment with stem cells?
Our white blood cells, an essential part of the immune system fight infections, have something like a gateway for HIV called CCR5 receptor. In exceptional cases, some people are lucky to have mutated the gene of the receiver, which gives them immunity to the spread of the virus. Following this logic, the treatment aims to transfer patients stem cells modified with receptors mutated, immune to the entry of the virus. The other side of the discovery is that, unfortunately, this type of strategy is not only very costly but having a very high risk to the health of the patient, so it would only make sense to use it in cases of extreme necessity. At this news, therefore, it is extremely important to take into account several issues. On the one hand, at the scientific level, the discovery is very relevant since it confirms that the strategy used with the “Berlin patient” (i.e., with Timothy Brown) was not a random question, which opens the door to the study of new ways to treat the syndrome. Secondly, and perhaps most relevant, the news serves as an excuse to understand and communicate that today the best way to combat HIV is information. That information which, over the years, increasingly have less place in the media and in society. That information which, when it reaches the hand of specialists, scientists and doctors who are really dedicated to study the disease, ceases to be a note of color to fill the portals of news with a thirst for novelty and becomes, simply education.

Original source in Spanish