Germany: 'Second patient' with HIV/AIDS declared cured
Thomas Kahrer announces his recovery from HIV after 11 years of treatment at Charité Hospital.
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
Thomas Caulfield, a staff member at Berlin’s Charité hospital for 38 years and known as the “Berlin Patient No. 2,” said he is “in very good health” on Wednesday during the opening of Charité’s new HIV research center, “BeCure.” He is one of 13 people worldwide who have been cured of HIV.
Caulfield, now 62, was found to be HIV-positive during a routine check-up in 2009. In 2015, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer. Due to the leukemia, he required a stem cell transplant in addition to chemotherapy.
On October 14, 2015, exactly 11 years ago, Caulfield received stem cells from a healthy donor. Since then, no HIV viruses or cancer cells have been detected, and he is considered cured.
HIV attacks immune system cells in the body at specific points known as CCR5 receptors. According to Charité, about 1% of people of European descent have a mutation in the CCR5 receptor, known as the delta-32 mutation. This mutation prevents the virus from entering cells, and carriers are considered naturally immune to HIV.
In the case of the first “Berlin Patient,” it was possible to find a stem cell donor whose tissue characteristics matched the recipient’s and who carried the mutation that confers immunity.
