Early treatment ‘cures’ second US HIV-positive baby

US researchers have revealed another baby
carrying the HIV virus, which leads to Aids, may
have been cured through early treatment.
Antiretrovial drugs were reportedly administered to
the baby in California just four hours after birth.
The unidentified nine-month-old child is now said to
be HIV negative.
It is the second such case after an HIV-positive
Mississippi infant brought into remission following
early treatment was reported in 2013.
“This is a call to action for us to mobilize and be
able to learn from these cases,” Johns Hopkins
University paediatrics specialist Dr Deborah
Persaud said at a Boston medical conference.
No trace of the virus can now be found in the
infant’s blood or tissues, the doctor revealed.
Dr Persaud said the nine-month-old child is still
receiving a three-drug anti-Aids cocktail, while the
three-year-old Mississippi child stopped receiving
antiretroviral treatments two years ago.
“Really the only way we can prove that we have
accomplished remission in these kids is by taking
them off treatment and that’s not without risk,” Dr
Persaud added.
Both children are reported to have been born to
mothers infected with HIV, which weakens the
body’s immune system.
The human immunodeficiency virus has infected
more than 34 million people worldwide, researchers
estimate.