What is New With OSHA in 2023?

Each year occupational safety administrators seek to make changes that effectively keep employees safe while working. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a government agency working to ensure safety by setting and enforcing standards applicable to the United States Department of Labor.

Last year there were more than 2.5 million workplace injuries reported to administrators across the United States. These injuries more-or-less fit into categories involving overexertion, falls, object impacts, and bodily reactions to awkward postures. OSHA constantly makes reforms to their rules as needed in various industries. Their mission includes evolving with current events and addressing potential areas where any safety risks could occur. The changes with the new rules OSHA is proposing for 2023 will seek to better prevent these injuries and many others in the workforce. 

Who is OSHA?

OSHA began regulating workplace safety after the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970. The origins of the administration arose after massive public outcries against rising injuries and death rates at work. Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure safe and healthful workplace conditions existed for workers in all industries. The administration works to create and enforce specific safety standards by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. 

Each year the administration receives a budget to effectively provide the resources needed to regulate workplace safety around the country. Originally this budget was utilized to develop the enforcement strategies best fit for businesses, but has gradually evolved into targeting more of those high-hazard industries that have continued ongoing workplace injuries. The current enforcement strategy aids in identifying the specific sites where high injury rates occur, and offers critical resources directly to the highest problem areas within labor departments. One of the most important proponents of OSHA’s enforcement plans is their education and outreach protocols that play vital roles dealing with health and safety. 

OSHA has invested heavily into its websites, educational materials, and resource distribution across the United States. More than 23 million users are present on the OSHA website each year, with more than 300,000 annual downloads of its advisor software systems. The administration has continued to branch out creating various web pages for individual employees, businesses, industry partners, and foraging counterparts in Europe and beyond. 

New Rules for 2023

This year OSHA has made some big changes in reforming many previously existing regulations to better fit the evolving industries in the United States. Here are 5 important changes that you should know about including record keeping, Lockout-Tagout changes, silica exposure, updated HazCom classifications, and shipping requirements. 

1. Recordkeeping Proposed Rule

OSHA published a new rule which would revise electronic injury and illness reporting requirements in US workplaces. Key impacts will include:

• Expanding reporting requirements to ensure companies with more than 100 employees are able to electronically submit all of their OSHA information, whereas previously they were only required to submit a single form’s data. 

• OSHA plans to publish the data collected from the electronic submissions on a public database after removing individual identifiers. Immediately this portion of the proposed ruling has garnered concerns about the likelihood and effectiveness of completely removing personal information from the data prior to being released to the public. 

• The new ruling will also provide exclusions for establishments with 250 or more employees from having to electronically submit their Form 300A information annually to OSHA. 

2. Lockout-Tagout (LOCO) Updates

LOCO is OSHA’s control of hazardous energy standards, initially established in 1989. This regulation has largely remained unchanged since its establishment although OSHA is finally modernizing it to match industry standards utilizing computer based safety softwares. 

• Most hazard controls in national industries recognize and incorporate many different computer based safety softwares. 

• A request for information (RFI) assessed the strengths and limitations of such software when controlling hazardous energy. 

• The RFI determined the current regulations in LOTO, which specifies control current devices are unsuitable for energy isolating devices, must be changed in response to recent technological advancements. Modern technologies may have improved the safety and control of such circuit type devices, and OSHA has responded by preparing to update the LOTO standard and compliance implications for employers. 

3. Silica Exposure Considerations

Silica dust particles are incredibly small and can become trapped in the lung tissue of a person who is exposed, leading to inflammation and scarring that can affect their respiratory tracts. The minute particles can reduce the lung’s capacity to take in oxygen causing a condition classified as silicosis. Silicosis can result in permanent lung damage as it is a progressive, debilitating, and sometimes fatal disease. 

OSHA developed two standards for respiratory silica, one for general industries like construction and one for maritime. Those 2016 standards established exposure action levels reducing the acceptable amount of total daily exposure, installing exposure control measures, and implementing medical surveillance programs to monitor employee health. The established regulations also required businesses and recordkeepers to maintain written documentation of the ongoing exposure control plans and maintain the OSHA standards. 

Other chemical exposure regulations like those that deal with lead, cadmium, and formaldehyde also yield an additional medical removal provision that the former silica regulations lacked. The medical provision required employers to monitor certain airborne exposure indicators or those found in blood concentrations, removing the employee from the contact area once exposure levels are reached. The United States Court of Appeals concluded that OSHA failed to explain its decision to remove the medical provisions from the 2016 silica regulations and remanded the rule for additional consideration of the implications. 

• OSHA is planning to revisit the silica rules and to implement a medical provision installing surveillance programs and removal procedures. 

• Employers that are subjected to the silica rules must ensure they have effective workplace inspection and hygiene standards, efficient incident management strategies, and the ability to promptly record medical removal cases. 

4. Regulatory Activities in Regards to Heat Exposure

The United States Department of Labor reported that hazardous heat exposure resulted in an average of 35 fatalities and 2,700 annual cases in industries across the nation. These injuries also resulted in multiple days away from work during the length of injury. 

• Heat exposure injuries may be incorrectly diagnosed or underreported due to failures when documenting at what point the heat exposure caused or contributed to the official cause of death and injury. This is especially true when the victim ultimately succumbs to some other life threatening condition such as a heart attack or stroke, which may have direct correlations with the onset of heat exposure injuries. 

• OSHA will initiate work on a heat exposure index standard. 

• New emphasis on indoor and outdoor heat related hazards.

5. HazCom Proposed Rule

Proposed updates to existing HazCom standards to align with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Chemical Labeling. 

• Classifications for flammable gasses, aerosols, and desensitized explosives.

• Additional requirements for various sized shipping containers. 

• Specific requirements for bulk shipments. 

• Required classifications of hazards under normal use including those that result in chemical reactions and other physical changes. 

More Plans For OSHA

As OSHA continues to evolve to better fit modern industries there are likely to be many more reforms down the road. The administration will continue to focus on reducing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in all traditional industries while also looking ahead toward future challenges. Future safety violations may surround new chemicals or other workplace hazards in the growing service sector industries. OSHA regulations must also adapt to many more hybrid workplaces utilizing virtual assistance and AI technologies to either replace or assist the bulk of their employees. 

Proposed New Rules for Workplace Protection Against Wildfire Smoke

Not much is known about the true effects wildfire smoke has on outdoor workers, yet many regions are considering installing new rules to protect workers against associated workplace health hazards. Wildfires generate copious amounts of smoke into the atmosphere which can linger and spread far distances affecting many diverse workplace industries, and those that must work outdoors are directly at risk. Certain complications affecting respiratory and cardiovascular systems are known to be caused directly from smoke inhalation, and protections in the new rules will seek to provide for those ailments. 

Many different components have contributed to the new rules and certain regions have been in discussions for multiple years over the specific regulations to be imposed. Lawmakers have been diligently working with environmentalists, scientists, medical professionals, public involvement, and those predominantly affected to develop succinct rules that can protect those at risk. Certain areas more severely affected by climate change, drought, and dry conditions will continue to increase frequency of wildfires posing additional risks for industries and any employee conducting business outdoors. 

Effects of Smoke Exposure

Smoke exposure can invoke a variety of different complications to the human body, particularly affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of those exposed. Wildfire smoke is different from cigarettes or exhaust due to the variety of different gas combinations and particulate matter. The mix of gasses and fine particulates form from burning vegetation, structures, or other materials. Studies suggest breathing in wildfire smoke can have instantaneous effects on anytype of individual, regardless of health. 

Immediate Symptoms

• Coughing

• Breathing difficulties 

• Stingy eyes

• Dry throat

• Runny nose

• Irritated sinuses

• Wheezing and shortness of breath

• Chest pain

• Headache

• Asthma attacks

• Tiredness

• Accelerated heartbeat

Immediate side effects from smoke inhalation can rapidly degrade a person’s ability to effectively work, travel, or participate in outdoor activities. These symptoms can continue to persist for extended periods of time, even when a person removes themselves from the source of the smoke.

The difficulties when assessing smoke inhalation risks in regards to wildlife smoke is the percentage of pollutant particulate matter. Health effects when dealing with air particulates can range from relatively minor symptoms to more serious long term health effects. The fine particulates are respiratory irritants that can cause persistent coughing, phlegm build up, difficulty breathing, and impacts to the entire respiratory system. These particulates can decrease the body’s ability to effectively remove foreign materials from the lungs, leading to excess bacteria and viral infections. Even people without underlying conditions can experience reduced respiratory activity including lung irritation and pulmonary inflammation. 

Long term exposure to wildfire smoke inhalation has relatively little known data to conclusively make assessments, however studies involving prolonged exposure to severe conditions over several days and weeks suggest a cumulatively negative effect on the lung’s capacity to provide clean oxygen to the body. Difficulties in assessing the effects of wildfire exposures is due to the lack of detailed studies on the general public's reaction to those conditions compared to the studies conducted on wildland firefighters directly in the pathway of dangerous smoke conditions. Gaps in the knowledge also fail to accurately depict the status of persistent health conditions in the wildlife offseason for workers. 

Protections From Wildfire Smoke

The most effective way to prevent wildfire smoke inhalation health effects is by limiting a person’s direct exposure to the elements. The Center for Disease Control has published a variety of tips for the public to avoid developing health complications in the height of wildlife season. 

1. Observe local air quality conditions

1. News and health networks will release warnings and condition updates when there is a wildfire in your area. Take safety precautions by limiting your exposure to the outdoors when under advisory. 

2. Evaluate health guidelines if they are available to your area.

3. Stay indoors and keep indoor air as clean as possible. 

1. Keeping inside air sealed from outside pollutants is almost as important as staying inside. 

4. Use an air filter

1. Air filters will help remove potential harmful particulates from the air you are breathing.

5. Do not rely on dust masks for protection

1. Comfort and dust masks will not protect you from smoke as they are only designed to stop large materials like sawdust. 

2. A typical N95 used for covid will provide some protection if you must be exposed to the elements. 

Proposed rulings for regional safety precautions for employers are based on the Air Quality Index (AQI) tool used by the Environmental Protection Agency to measure air quality. The AQI utilizes a rating system to quantify the probability of danger to the respiratory system and anyone outdoors. The rules outline necessary protections for when the AQI denotes dangerous particulate conditions in the air quality. 

AQI Rules - Rating spans 0 to 500 or higher

0 to 69

1. Air quality is satisfactory and no risk to outdoor exposure. 

1. 69 to 100

1. Air quality is acceptable but may pose certain risks to sensitive individuals or those with underlying conditions. 

2. Wildfire smoke response plan and recommended emergency response measures for workers experiencing any associated symptoms. 

2. 101 to 300

1. Some members of the public may begin to experience health complications and respiratory symptoms, while those with underlying conditions may react more severely. 

2. Provide respiratory protections 

3. Feasible working conditions with necessary precautions 

3. 301 to 500

1. Respirator use for affected workers

2. At least N95 masks for every employee

3. Full workplace respiratory protection program

4. Higher than the AQI

1. An N95 does not offer satisfactory protections, and more advanced respirators are required. 

Wildlife Risks for 2023

With summer shortly beginning across the United States what are the predicted risks for wildfires?

Areas in the western United States prone to severe wildfires include dry regions with adequate amounts of vegetation like California, Washington, and Colorado. The threat between April and June will be very low, but gradually increase with summer temperatures and lack of moisture. 

The peak wildlife season is expected to last between August and September, with some areas to remain under advisory until late November. The 2022 season observed more than 7 billion acres of land burned by wildfires and although 2023 has seen more moisture in certain areas then previously recorded, that statistic will likely remain the same if dry conditions prevail later in the year. 

The Northwest and Rockies observed a dryer than average winter, which means those regions will face a higher risk of wildfires as the snowpack melts quickly with the onset of summer temperatures. Some forecasters are placing the start of severe wildfires season as early as June in some of these at risk areas. Forecasters also released warnings that although many states are unaffected by the direct outburst of severe wildfires, the spread of smoke across the nation can continue to pose long lasting effects and should be taken seriously. 

Doctor’s Warn Against Using ‘My AI’ for Health Support

Snapchat is among the first of popular social media apps to incorporate emerging artificial intelligence (AI) software directly into user interface. The AI feature acts as a chatbot allowing users to ask questions and communicate for advice, planning trips, recipes, and trivia games. However, as the feature is gradually gaining more popularity and scope with new users, an alarming number of teens have begun to turn to the AI chatbot for mental health support, which doctors caution against. 

Many people have questions on the validity, safety, and scope of artificial intelligence invading day-to-day lives. The technology has observed rapid incorporations into mainstream media, employment tasks, and daily utilization over the last decade. As artificial intelligence continues to develop it also raises questions about its utility and user safety. Doctors are beginning to dissect the full potential of AI and are currently in discussions exploring associated benefits and risks. 

What is Artificial Intelligence?

The basic definition of AI is the scientific engineering of intelligent machines that expands beyond computers' ability to understand to bridge the gap between biological observance and human intelligence. Artificial Intelligence inside human technology has been a topic of interest since the 1950s, and has continued to be refined and implemented over the past 70 years. 

The simplest form of AI seeks to combine robust amounts of data enabling a program to engage in problem solving, without human interference. AI algorithms are created to synthesize datasets using machine and deep learning protocols that output predictions and classifications. 

Deep Learning

• Comprised of neural networks

• Predominantly automated extraction from datasets

• “Scalable machine learning”

• AI determines results between data inputs and outputs

Machine Learning

• Requires human intervention or facilitation to extract entire datasets

• Restricted to smaller datasets

• Human observes determine results between data inputs and outputs

A variety of different applications for AI has been developing incorporating both factors of algorithm learning. Some of the most common systems implementing AI include speech recognition, customer service, computer vision, recommendation engines, and automated stock trading. Many aspects of society are beginning to rely on artificial intelligence features to facilitate daily tasks and communications, gradually invading people’s own personal data and online activities. 

The applications of artificial intelligence are continually expanding and recent developments have spurred many doctors into researching potential uses related to patient care as the technology is already aiding X Rays, digital imaging, and hospital management.

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Millions of users across the country are familiar with some form of artificial intelligence in their life, often acting as rollout testers as companies rush to create competitive products for users. The rapid distribution across the internet has made accessing AI tools incredibly easy for average users. These tools are most often being used to develop medical diagnoses, writing assignments, software installation, and so many other tasks. 

Critics of the technology argue large spearheading companies like Microsoft and Google have failed to completely test the safety and validity of the new tools before distributing to the public. Artificial Intelligence has already raised concerns over employment security, privacy violations, misinformation campaigns, and identity theft as even President Biden has advocated for ensuring AI’s safety, and addressing aforementioned risks. Officials agree the technology has the potential to significantly improve lives in medical settings, but only after it can meet new legal responsibility regulations. President Biden and his administration have released an AI Bill of Rights and risk management framework to begin the facilitation of the technology on its pathway to medical utility. 

AI Bill of Rights: To address urgent challenges surrounding artificial intelligence by describing five core protections each American is to be entitled.

1. Safe and Effective Systems

1. Users should be protected from unsafe and ineffective systems. 

2. Algorithmic Discrimination Protections

1. Users should not be subjected to discriminations by algorithms

2. Systems should be used and designed in an equitable manner

3. Data Privacy

1. Users should be protected from abusive data practices by installing protections and agency control governing how data is used and stored. 

4. Notice and Explanation

1. Users must be alerted to the automated system being used and understand its contributions to its uses. 

5. Alternative Options

1. Users must have an opt out option, to be redirected to a person that can consider and remedy problems manually. 

Artificial Intelligence Meets Mental Health

Many doctors agree there are a multitude of uses and potential benefits for supporting mental well being with artificial intelligence, most notably addressing the severe nationwide shortage of active providers. Technological solutions based on AI usage would allow greater accessibility to health professionals by patients, and facilitate ongoing daily treatment plans. Doctor Zachary Grinder, a psychological consultant in California even described how the technology could be used to identify concerning patterns of language and online behavior indicative of underlying mental health conditions. He also described how direct access to mental health communications can normalize the condition and get people connected with appropriate services. 

The caveat to the potential benefits is the interpersonal dependency AI interactions may inadvertently cause in a patient’s life. As the tools continue to advance and expand user applications, some users may begin to rely too heavily on their relationship with the artificial intelligence rather than human connections. Early users to tools released on several media platforms have already described how they tend to use their AI chats when lonely, looking for a ‘quick fix’ to their mental health. 

One of the most significant areas of concern for many doctors is the human-like response style and clinical authority most AI chat bots reply in. This style of dialect can be confusing to younger demographics who may not realize they are not communicating with a person. The clinical authority with which AI provides solutions is also perceived to be accurate by the user, when algorithms operating the AI sometimes fabricate answers. The complications of AI uses reach far beyond mental health vulnerability and the technology is likely to be subjected to many additional regulations as it continues to advance, attempting to limit misinformation and protect users.

OSHA’s Beat the Heat Contest to Further Temperature Hazard Prevention

Every year companies face challenges during the summer related directly to temperature and heat based injuries, with dozens of employees facing death and severe heat related illnesses every year in the United States. Just last year there were almost 2,000 reported injuries and illnesses related to environmental heat. States in the southwestern United States often face average summer temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, subjecting construction and other outdoor industries to dangerous conditions. 

Employers all over the country have already started preparing for the start of summer, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has developed several educational resources, regulations, and aids to enhance employee safety. Some techniques OSHA has used to help prevent employee related heat injuries while at work include crafting temperature-illness prevention plans, teaching materials, and ensuring workers have access to things like shade and water. This year OSHA has also launched a ‘Beat the Heat’ contest to incentivize and reward industries taking the necessary steps to prevent employee injuries. 

The ‘Beat the Heat’ Contest

The ‘Beat the Heat’ Contest was started by OSHA this year to uncover more resources and further raise awareness of the risks employees and employers will face this summer. For the contest employers will submit any tools and resources they are implementing to contribute to employee education and work safety regarding heat hazards. The purpose of the contents is industry and public awareness related to the dangers of excessive heat exposure, and to motivate all entities to prevent heat illnesses from occurring. 

A panel of OSHA and federal agency workers will form a judgment panel to decide on a winner of the contest. All members of the panel will have some expertise in relevant heat related subject matter and judge based on the how well the submissions:

• Identify heat risk to workers

• Provide informative messages

• Utilize creative communication methods

• Create engagement with employers, employees, and relevant stakeholders to work together forming effective communications concerning the hazardous risks of heat exposure in the workplace. 

• Apply effective communication and message strategies to be accessible and easily understood by all workers, employers, and relevant stakeholders. 

• Consider the geographic significance of the employment industry sector

Award Categories will include:

• Most Innovative

• Most Creative

• Boldest Message

• Best Non-English Submission

• Highlighting Indoor Heat Hazards

• Highlighting Young Workers

The employee industries will have until June 9, 2023 to submit their entries into the contest, and winners will be determined shortly thereafter. 

Heat-Illness Resources and Education

Heat stress is one of the most commonly reported injuries by workers exposed to extreme heat conditions on the job. Heat stress can result in a variety of complications including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and heat rashes. High temperatures can also increase the risk of workplace accidents by causing sweaty palms, foggy protective eyewear, and disorientation. Another commonly reported injury is a variety of surface burns from the sun, and from contact with metal surfaces left in direct sunlight. 

Many workers and industries have exposed areas of risk when discussing heat related illnesses and injury. Workers at risk of heat stress include industries that contact the outdoors including hot environments including firefighters, bakeries, farmers, construction workers, miners, boiler room technicians, factory employees, and many others. 

These workers are at a much higher risk when they are overweight, over the age of 65, have heart disease, have high blood pressure, or take medications that may be affected by extreme heat exposure. 

Types of Heat Related Illnesses 

• Heat Stroke

• The most serious heat-related illness that occurs when the body can no longer control its temperature. The body’s temperature will continue to rise until the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down, causing permanent disability or death if the person is left untreated. 

• Heat Exhaustion

• The body’s response to excessive loss of water and salt, most likely through excessive sweating. This will most commonly affect the elderly and people with underlying health conditions that are working in hot environments. 

• Rhabdomyolysis

• A medical condition associated with heat stress and prolonged physical exertion in high temperatures. Rhabdo causes the rapid breakdown of and death of muscle releasing large quantities of electrolytes and protein into the bloodstream. This condition can result in irregular heart rhythms, seizures, and kidney damage.

• Heat Syncope

• A fainting episode or unusual dizziness often associated with standing too long or sudden elevation changes of the head above the body. Factors that can exacerbate this condition are dehydration and lack of acclimatization. 

• Heat Cramps

• Usually affect individuals who often sweat profusely during physical exertion or strenuous activity. Sweating depletes the body’s salt and moisture levels creating painful muscle cramps, also an indication of the early stages of heat exhaustion.

• Heat Rash

• A skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during high temperatures and humid conditions. 

All of these conditions should be completely addressed by employer heat prevention plans, and all employees should be fully educated about the risks and early symptom signs related to each heat related illness. 

Heat-Illness Prevention Methods

Planning and supervision are two factors that can significantly reduce heat related illness and injury to employees while at work. Employers should develop a written plan to prevent heat-illnesses from happening so employees have the highest level of safety and awareness.

Prevention Plans should include:

• Who will provide daily oversight?

• How will new workers develop heat tolerance?

• Temporary workers may be more susceptible to heat and require closer supervision.

• Workers returning from leave  (more than two weeks) may be at increased risk.

• How will the employer ensure first aid is adequate and the protocol for summoning medical assistance in situations beyond first-aid is effective?

• How will heat stress be measured?

• How to respond to the National Weather Service’ heat advisories?

• How to determine if the total heat stress is hazardous?

• What training will be provided to workers and supervisors?

Heat conditions can change rapidly and must require day-to-day supervision to ensure all the policies and prevention plans effectively do their job to benefit employees. Supervisory individuals at a work site should be responsible for constantly monitoring and implementing employer heat plans as conditions change throughout the day, and ideally the individual should also be on site where the workers are. 

Science Closer Than Ever to an HIV Cure

Scientists have confirmed that a 5th person has recently been cured from HIV. This patient joins an incredibly small group of people who have participated in treatments that have effectively eliminated HIV from their systems. Experts agree there is still a plethora of work and trials that need to take place before effective forms of large scale distribution can be applied to the more than 30 million people currently living with the disease. 

The news of another person cured from HIV brings hope to infected patients around the world, and suggests we are one step closer to finding a global cure. HIV has been studied rigorously over the past 50 years, leading to various methods to treat and manage symptoms of the disease, significantly extending patient’s lives and preventing pier-to-pier transmission. Much of the current treatment is focused primarily on reducing active viral loads found in a patient’s blood, and preventing HIV from advancing into its life threatening form as AIDS. 

As people afflicted with the disease are able to live longer and prevent further transmission, scientists are able to continue studying the harmful disease, searching for a global solution. More patient trials are scheduled to take place throughout the remainder of this decade as technology and new understanding of how to control the disease continue to advance bringing us one step closer towards a cure.  

History of HIV

HIV, otherwise known as the human immunodeficiency virus, attacks a person’s immune system increasing their likelihood of succumbing to other opportunistic infections and serious illness, effectively killing them. The disease is a lifelong affliction and can be easily transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of another infected person. 

After contracting HIV a person may experience flu-like symptoms that gradually progress through the three stages of the disease before becoming life threatening. 

• Stage 1 Acute HIV Infection:

• Patient’s have a large quantity of HIV in their blood and are extremely contagious. 

• Patient’s exhibit many persistent flu-like symptoms like fever, sore throat, swollen glands, rash, muscle aches, fatigue. Etc.

• Stage 2 Chronic HIV Infection:

• The asymptomatic HIV infection stage where the disease is still active and producing within the body, but patients will likely not exhibit any symptoms. 

• Without treatment, the stage may continue for a decade or longer.

• Stage 3 Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

• The most severe and life threatening stage of HIV infection.

• Patient’s have high viral load and can easily transmit the disease.

• Patient’s exhibit badly damaged immune systems exposing them to various opportunistic diseases and illnesses. 

• Without HIV treatment, people with AIDS typically only live up to three years after progressing to this stage. 

An HIV diagnosis is not life threatening with adequate treatment, however it is almost always fatal if the disease is left untreated and it advances into its later Stage 3 form as AIDs. There is no cure for HIV or AIDS, however doctors have developed significant advancements in medicine usage to effectively treat the symptoms of HIV, prevent its transmission, and extend the lives of infected people. 

There are currently 38.4 million people living with HIV, all who rely on the aid of modern medicines to remain alive. The disease has been dated back to the early 1800s, thought to originate from an interspecies transmission between chimpanzees and humans.The ape virus origins is thought to have entered human populations after hunters came into contact with the infected meat of a population of chimpanzees in Africa. Over the decades following the initial transfer, the disease spread across Africa and into the rest of the world spreading to the United States of America in the mid to late 1970s. 

How Stem Cells Cured HIV

The first patient ever cured from HIV was a German patient named Timothy Ray Brown in 2009. Timothy Brown was first infected with HIV in 1995 as a student in Berlin, where he successfully controlled his viral loads using medication. However his health took a significant turn for the worse in 2006 after he was diagnosed with leukemia. He was forced to undergo several operations, including a bone marrow transplant using stem cells.

Due to his positive HIV diagnosis, the doctors operated the allogeneic stem cell transplant using stem cells from a donor with the CCR5 gene mutilation which made them resistant to HIV infections. 

Mr. Brown was forced to halt his HIV medications when starting the stem cell treatment, although he continued to get tested for signs of HIV. As doctor’s continued to monitor him, they were unable to find any signs of HIV in his blood or body for the next three years after his transplant. Additional studies were also able to identify decreases in HIV specific blood antibodies indicating the elimination of functional HIV from his system. 

After presenting his patient case at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections additional patients continued to be cured using the same methods.The other cured patients all underwent similar stem cell therapies to combat various forms of blood cancers. This method of treatment is not realistic over large scales because the human stem cell donors that bear the crucial CCR5 HIV resistant genetic mutation only account for approximately 1% of the global population, and stem cell transplantation is an extreme treatment with a myriad of associated risks.

Working Towards an HIV Cure

HIV is an incredibly complex virus that persistently spreads throughout a person’s body once infected. The disease can exhibit periods of latency while continuing to spread through cells in the body, even while under the medication of antiretrovirals (ARV). The main problem for scientists working towards a cure is finding a way to uncover and specifically target these hidden HIV cells that can unfortunately be reanimated if a patient stops using their medications, leading to reinfection.

The first step scientists are exploring on the road to a cure is to influence the hidden HIV cells to produce recognizable HIV proteins that medicine and the body can identify. Once the cells harboring the HIV are identified, specific drugs may be used to tag these cells for the immune system to exterminate. Patients will be given the treatment while continuously using the ARV medication to ensure healthy cells are protected from infection. 

The biggest problem scientists are facing developing this induce and reduce method, is reactivating the hidden HIV without causing health complications to the subject. However, with many of the world’s top scientists working diligently towards this solution, there have already been advances in types of effective medication for identification. 

The scientists remain optimistic that the world is closer than ever to having a cure for this disease. Moving forward, the studies will progress from laboratories into clinical trials, eventually determining the applications for the rest of the infected population.