For only the fifth time in history, doctors have cured a patient of HIV.

The German man, known only as “the Dusseldorf patient,” was actually successfully treated in 2019, when he underwent a stem cell transplant, says Dr. Bjorn-Erik Ole Jensen. However, researchers waited until now to make the announcement because they wanted to make sure the man remained virus-free, Jensen says.

“It’s really cure, and not just, you know, long term remission,” Jensen says. “This obviously positive symbol makes hope, but there’s a lot of work to do.”

Do you think HIV will someday go the way of polio?

More about:

Pro Sports