A second patient has reportedly been cured of HIV-1, according to a case study that was published today. The patient, being called the London patient, is only the second person ever to be in sustained remission. The news comes ten years after the first case of a cured patient who was known as the Berlin patient. Both people were treated with a stem cell transplant from donors who have a rare genetic mutation that is known as CCR5-delta 32 that makes them resistant to HIV.
The patient has reportedly been in remission for 18 months since the treatment and after having stopped taking anti-viral meds.
“By achieving remission in a second patient using a similar approach, we have shown that the Berlin Patient was not an anomaly and that it really was the treatment approaches that eliminated HIV in these two people,” said Ravindra Gupta, lead author of the study.
While this is amazing news, Gupta warned that this method wouldn’t be applicable to every patient, but does offer hope for new and improved treatment strategies.
Much more info about the patient over at the New York Times.
