Posted on 08/13/2003 4:45:00 AM PDT by yonif
An Israeli hospital announced Tuesday that it has developed a new treatment that will allow men who carry HIV to safely father children without passing on the virus. It is believed that there are over 100 couples in Israel where the male partner is a carrier of the virus.
Rambam Hospital’s Immunology, Allergy and AIDS Institute said that the new technology, which was developed by the Haifa hospital in conjunction with medical centers across Europe, allows the infected semen to be ‘washed clean,’ leaving behind only HIV-free semen. Use of the procedure began in Europe in July last year, an in Israel at the start of this year.
Dr. Margalit Lorver, deputy director of the institute, who was head of the project in Israel, says that while a carriers’ semen is heavily infected, the HIV virus cannot penetrate the semen itself. After the semen is ‘washed,’ the infected cells are disposed of and the clean cells are injected into the woman’s uterus.
Doctors have so far recorded two pregnancies in couplers where the man is an HIV carrier. One of the women is in her first trimester, and the second is due to give birth in December. According to Dr. Lorver, the procedure allows these couples not to have to rely on anonymous sperm donors as they used to do in the past. Over 30 Israeli couples are currently undergoing treatment at Rambam Hospital, the only medical center in Israel offering the treatment.
However, the father who is dying can be happy at least his genetic material will be passed on after he leaves the world.
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