Known as the “Esperanza Patient,” Woman’s Own Immune System Cured Her of HIV

A woman in Argentina known as the “Esperanza patient” has become only the second documented person whose own immune system possibly cured her of HIV. She is what’s known as a so-called elite controller of HIV. This happens in an estimated 1 in 200 people and their immune systems are able to suppress the virus from replicating to very low levels without using antiretroviral treatments. While still unknown how this occurs, it does provide hope for the 38 million people living with the virus. Benjamin Ryan, contributor to NBCNews.com, joins us for what to know about the “Esperanza patient.”

Next, where have all the public bathrooms gone? Going through the pandemic and seeing the closures of bars, restaurants and other public spaces, it laid bare how very few places there are for a person to relieve themselves. It was a trend that was definitely happening before the pandemic with many places being closed or just neglected which also gave public restrooms bad reputations. According to a “Public Toilet Index,” the U.S. only has eight toilets per 100,000 people overall. Elizabeth Yuko, contributor to Bloomberg CityLab, joins us for what to know about the lack of public bathrooms.

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