The Venezuelan Adam Castillejo, who lives in London, became the second person in the world to be cured of the HIV . Exactly a year ago, it was reported that HIV – the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) – had been successfully removed in this patient.
Recently, it was confirmed that this patient was virus free more than 30 months after stopping antiretroviral therapy, confirming the success of the treatment.
So, Castillejo, who chose to reveal his identity to make his case public, became the second person in history to be cured of HIV.
In 2011, Timothy Brown, also known as “the Berlin patient,” was the first person reported to be cured of HIV, three and a half years after receiving treatment similar to Castillejo’s.
Despite the importance of these milestones, experts warn that the treatment these men received is very risky and cannot be applied generically to treat all cases of HIV.
However, they are optimistic that it could be successfully applied to a second person. It is a treatment that uses stem cells from special donors that have a gene that protects them – and some of the people who receive these cells – from HIV.
“Ambassador of hope”
In an interview with The New York Times, Castillejo, who grew up in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and moved to London in 2002, said he decided to reveal his identity because he wants to become an “ambassador of hope.”
The 40-year-old man said he had to go through a tough road to healing, which included nearly a decade of strenuous treatments. He was diagnosed with HIV a year after arriving in the British capital, when he was 23 years old.
Beyond his good fortune, the Venezuelan clarified that he does not want people to think he is “a chosen one.”
“No, it just happened. I was in the right place, probably at the right time, when it happened,” he said.
