All traces of HIV vanish from ‘London patient’ in second such case, raising hopes of Aids cure
- The case is a proof of the concept that scientists hope will one day be able to end Aids
- The breakthrough comes 12 years after Timothy Brown, the so-called ‘Berlin patient’, became the first person cured of HIV
An HIV-positive man in Britain has become the second known adult worldwide to be cleared of the virus that causes Aids after he received a bone-marrow transplant from an HIV resistant donor, his doctors said.
Almost three years after receiving bone marrow stem cells from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that resists HIV infection – and more than 18 months after coming off antiretroviral drugs – highly sensitive tests still show no trace of the man’s previous HIV infection.
“There is no virus there that we can measure. We can’t detect anything,” said Ravindra Gupta, a professor and HIV biologist who co-led a team of doctors treating the man.
The case is a proof of the concept that scientists hope will one day be able to end Aids, the doctors said, but does not mean a cure for HIV has been found.
Gupta described his patient as “functionally cured” and “in remission”, but cautioned: “It’s too early to say he’s cured.”