A sixth person with HIV, being referred to as the Geneva patient, has likely been cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant for leukaemia.
The level of virus in his blood remained undetectable 20 months after his antiretroviral therapy was discontinued.
This patient underwent a stem cell transplant in 2018 for an aggressive form of leukaemia.
Twenty months later, his tests did not find any viral particles, latent reservoirs of the infection, or elevated immune response against the virus.
All the six patients who have achieved HIV remission so far needed the stem cell transplantation for treatment of their cancers.
In the first five cases, however, the treatment teams specifically looked for donors with CCR5 delta 32 mutation that is associated with lower risk of HIV.
HIV lowers immunity in infected individuals by attacking the CD4 immune cells.
Berlin patient, became the first person to overcome HIV after two stem cell transplants in 2007 and 2008.