London patient may be second in the world to be cured of HIV

  1. An HIV-positive man in Britain has become the second known adult worldwide to be cleared of the HIV virus. He had received a bone marrow transplant from an HIV resistant donor. The donor had a genetic mutation known as ‘CCR5 delta 32’, which confers resistance to HIV.
  2. The first person to be cleared of HIV virus was a patient in Germany who underwent a similar treatment in 2007.
  3. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), if not treated. There are two main types of the virus: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-2. At present there is no effective cure for HIV, but HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART.