HIV cure? South African kid born with HIV now in remission for 9 years without meds - TomoNews
- 7 years ago
SOUTH AFRICA — A South African nine-year-old has become the third HIV-infected child in the world to go into remission, suggesting that early treatment may be effective in combating the deadly virus.
According to a news release from the National Institutes of Health, the South African child had been had been part of a 2007 clinical trial that randomly assigned babies born with HIV to receive antiretroviral treatment either immediately, or only once they showed symptoms.
Antiretroviral drugs help suppress HIV in infected individuals, but must be taken regularly to prevent viral rebound or further progression.
This was not the case for one child, whose viral load went from high to undetectable after only 40 weeks of antiretroviral treatment during infancy. The child, now 9, is still in remission.
Advanced tests found that while a tiny number of the nine-year-old's immune cells contained HIV, the virus was dormant and unable to replicate.
Scientists believe the early treatment helped curb the disease, but say there may be other factors that contributed. At the very least, there is hope that long term remission is possible, and with further studies, could even be induced in other infected infants.
According to a news release from the National Institutes of Health, the South African child had been had been part of a 2007 clinical trial that randomly assigned babies born with HIV to receive antiretroviral treatment either immediately, or only once they showed symptoms.
Antiretroviral drugs help suppress HIV in infected individuals, but must be taken regularly to prevent viral rebound or further progression.
This was not the case for one child, whose viral load went from high to undetectable after only 40 weeks of antiretroviral treatment during infancy. The child, now 9, is still in remission.
Advanced tests found that while a tiny number of the nine-year-old's immune cells contained HIV, the virus was dormant and unable to replicate.
Scientists believe the early treatment helped curb the disease, but say there may be other factors that contributed. At the very least, there is hope that long term remission is possible, and with further studies, could even be induced in other infected infants.