European Man May Be 6th Person to Be 'Cured' of HIV

 

THURSDAY, July 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- It’s rare for someone with HIV to go into remission and be considered "cured," but a European man may be the sixth to do so.

First diagnosed with HIV in 1990, the man had been taking antiretroviral drugs since 2005 and received a stem cell transplant two years ago to treat a rare type of blood cancer.

Known as the “Geneva patient,” the Swiss man in his 50s is one of only six people who are considered to be definitely or possibly cured of HIV. The others had also received stem cell transplants for blood cancers, NBC News reported.

While the first five received the transplant from a donor with a rare genetic abnormality that is resistant to HIV, this man did not, NBC News reported.

The case is “great news,” Dr. Sharon Lewin, president of the International AIDS Society (IAS), told NBC News, and it may “help in many ways in the work toward a cure.”

Scientists will hear more about the case at the IAS Conference on HIV Science, being held from July 23 to 26 in Brisbane, Australia.