US Baby's HIV Infection Cured

A baby girl in Mississippi who was born with HIV has been cured after very early treatment with standard HIV drugs, US researchers reported, in a potentially ground-breaking case that could offer insights on how to eradicate HIV infection in its youngest victims.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

Health

Topics

Disease & Health Conditions

Places

United States of America, Mississippi

Tags

hiv

Transcript

It's being called a medical breakthrough. Researchers announced Sunday they had effectively CURED an infant of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Doctors at this Mississippi hospital placed the baby girl on a cocktail of drugs within 30 hours of birth -- instead of a single drug normally given to babies with HIV. That strong and EARLY intervention nearly eradicated the virus from her body, says Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "The child remains off of anti-retroviral therapy and is doing well. So we believe that perhaps the initiation of very early anti-retroviral therapy prevented the formation of the viral reservoirs in central memory CD4T cells that are the barriers to a cure and really sets the stage for a pediatric cure agenda going forward." More testing still needs to be done. But if researchers can replicate the Mississippi baby's treatment, it could mean the eradication of HIV in its youngest victims.