Brazilian study ‘cures’ São Paulo man of HIV

With the frantic rush all over the world to develop treatments, vaccines, or perhaps even a cure for Covid-19, it is perhaps easy to overlook the challenges and breakthroughs in medical research beyond the coronavirus. But one study from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) has made huge progress, potentially paving the way for a cure for HIV.

For the best part of a decade, infectious disease specialist Ricardo Sobhie Diaz has centered his efforts on curing the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), known for causing AIDS in human carriers. In one Unifesp study, Mr. Diaz and his colleagues were able to eliminate the virus in one patient, who has now been HIV-negative for over 15 months.

The 34-year-old patient — who has asked to be referred to as the São Paulo Patient, to protect his privacy — was diagnosed with HIV in October 2012 and took antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for three years until signing up for Unifesp’s research.

The São Paulo...