HIV patient is 'cured' by transplant

Doctors have "cured" a man of the HIV virus by giving him a bone marrow transplant from a donor who has natural resistance to the virus.

The case raises hopes that HIV sufferers may one day undergo a one-off treatment that would leave them virus-free.

However, doctors stressed the case was very rare, and may not be easy to replicate in other patients.

The 42-year-old American was originally given the transplant to try to treat his leukaemia, according to the research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

However, he has not tested positive for HIV in his blood since, doctors said.

The case was first reported in November but today's new research is the first official publication of it in a medical journal. The man had been infected with HIV for a decade.

He was treated with antiretroviral drugs in Berlin, where he lives, for four years to hold the disease in check, but developed leukaemia.

Since being given a bone marrow transplant two years ago, he has not taken antiretroviral drugs to control HIV and has had no resurgence of either disease.

However, doctors admit they are still unsure as to why the man was cured.