The first person ever to be cleared of HIV has welcomed the news that a second man has been declared in remission and said he would like to meet him.
Timothy Ray Brown, known as the Berlin patient, said he would encourage the unnamed man to go public because doing so would be “useful” for “giving hope” to those living with the virus.
On Monday night doctors confirmed that a man, known only as the London patient, has become only the second person ever to be cleared of HIV after a stem cell transplant.
Doctors said the latest case "shows the cure of Mr Brown was not a fluke and can be recreated” and that it could lead to a simpler approach to treatment which could be used more widely.
The case is also proof of the concept that scientists will one day be able to end AIDS, his doctors said, but does not mean a cure for HIV has been found.
The latest patient, who was treated in the UK’s capital, has been free of HIV for 18 months without taking drugs used to prevent the growth of the virus. His doctors said highly sensitive tests showed no trace of the infection almost three years after a stem cell transplant.
"There is no virus there that we can measure. We can't detect anything," said Ravindra Gupta, a HIV biologist who co-led a team of doctors treating the man.
Professor Gupta described his patient as "functionally cured" and "in remission", but cautioned: "It's too early to say he's cured."
The man is being called the London patient in part because his case is similar to the first known case of a functional cure of HIV: that of Berlin patient Mr Brown.
Mr Brown, an American, became known as the Berlin patient when he underwent similar treatment in Germany in 2007 which also cleared his HIV.
He had been living in Berlin, and has since moved to the United States. According to HIV experts, he is still HIV-free.
Speaking after the latest case emerged, Mr Brown said he would like to meet the London patient and would encourage him to go public because "it's been very useful for science and for giving hope to HIV-positive people, to people living with HIV”.
Some 37 million people worldwide are currently infected with HIV and the AIDS pandemic has killed around 35 million people worldwide since it began in the 1980s.
Scientific research into the complex virus has in recent years led to the development of drug combinations that can keep it at bay in most patients.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
