BENGALURU: Sachin (name changed) was just a few months old when he was diagnosed with thalassemia major; he needed blood transfusion once in three to four weeks for his survival. The family had to travel more than 100 km from their home in northeast for medication and it was a double whammy when they realized the boy had contracted HIV virus though one such blood transfusion. However, their recent visit to a Bengaluru hospital turned things for the better.Sachin, now aged 10, is cured of thalassemia after he underwent the bone marrow transplant (BMT) five months ago and his six-year-old brother was the donor. Bone marrow transplant on a patient infected with HIV is ridden with risks and the procedure was a huge challenge for the 100-odd team of doctors and para-medical staff at the Majumdar Shaw Cancer Centre. This is, according to the doctor who treated Sachin, is the second successful case in the world and the first in India. The boy hasn’t shown symptoms of HIV for the past five months.“We were devastated to know he was contracted with the deadly virus. We approached many transplant centres, but none of them wanted to even touch him,” said Sachin’s father who finally decided to try his luck in Bengaluru.“When he came, the boy’s immune system was weak and infections were high. I realized that HIV infection could flare up during the transplant. That was the biggest challenge for us. The whole process, including preparing the boy for the surgery, took several weeks. The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matched with his sibling, making the transplant possible,” Dr Sunil Bhat, senior consultant and head of paediatric haematology, oncology and bone marrow transplant at Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City.Sachin’s HIV infection is now under control and he no longer needs any blood transfusion, he added.It may be too early to predict, given that the transplant took place just five months ago. But if the boy doesn’t show further symptoms of HIV relapse in the next one year, this procedure can be considered as a possible cure for HIV. There’s no need to worry about HIV transmission between the bone marrow donor and the recipient; the donor is at no risk of contracting HIV in the process. Sachin’s six-year-old brother, the bone marrow donor in this case, is completely healthyDr Sunil Bhat, head of paediatric haematology, oncology and bone marrow transplant at Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City