A baby in Mississippi was announced cured of H.I.V last weekend, a major step that can affect the world globally.
The baby
was treated with anti-retroviral drug around 30 hours after birth, which is something that isn't typically done.
The mother did not see any doctors during the pregnancy and did not know she had H.I.V. Tests were administered and it was discovered that the baby had the virus. Instead of treating the baby with one or two drugs as a prophylactic measure, the doctor, almost immediately, used a three-drug regimen aimed at treatment.
Two and a half years later, the baby has
no sign of a functioning virus and is off the drug (for a year now).
According to the
New York Times, "One hypothesis is that the drugs killed off the virus before it could establish a hidden reservoir in the baby. One reason people cannot be cured now is that the virus hides in a dormant state, out of reach of existing drugs. When drug therapy is stopped, the virus can emerge from hiding."
This could lead as an example to other doctors when treating babies born with infected mothers. Typically, mothers get treated during pregnancy, but in this case she did not see a doctor. This is more relevant though with the infected mothers in Africa and other places with less testing.
The Mississippi case has the ability to set a global standard one day.
Have you heard of this yet? Do you think that this has the potential to affect those infected globally?
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Comments (5)
The mom is an idiot, not to mention dead.
That's amazing!
@Kittyluve@xanga - In the story, it says she's happy for the baby and taking medicine herself.
What an awesome story!!!!