Second Child May Have Been Cured of HIV
Mar 06, 2014 19:28
Doctors in Los Angeles are claiming that a second child may have been cured of HIV. The case was presented today by doctors at at the 21st annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston:
Both children were born to HIV-positive mothers, and were given the aggressive antiretroviral treatment just hours after birth. For more on this story, click here
The girl was born in suburban Los Angeles last April, a month after researchers announced the first case from Mississippi.
That case was a medical first that led doctors worldwide to rethink how fast and hard to treat infants born with HIV. The California doctors followed that example.
The Mississippi baby is now 3 1/2 and seems HIV-free despite no treatment for about two years. The Los Angeles baby is still getting AIDS medicines, so the status of her infection is not as clear.
"We don't know if the baby is in remission ... but it looks like that," said Dr. Yvonne Bryson, an infectious disease specialist at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA who consulted on the girl's care.
Doctors are cautious about suggesting she has been cured, "but that's obviously our hope," Bryson said.
The first case was revealed back in March 2013, when Mississippi doctors announced that early and
aggressive treatment of an HIV-positive newborn had cured the child of
her infection. That case was a medical first that led doctors worldwide to rethink how fast and hard to treat infants born with HIV. The California doctors followed that example.
The Mississippi baby is now 3 1/2 and seems HIV-free despite no treatment for about two years. The Los Angeles baby is still getting AIDS medicines, so the status of her infection is not as clear.
"We don't know if the baby is in remission ... but it looks like that," said Dr. Yvonne Bryson, an infectious disease specialist at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA who consulted on the girl's care.
Doctors are cautious about suggesting she has been cured, "but that's obviously our hope," Bryson said.
Both children were born to HIV-positive mothers, and were given the aggressive antiretroviral treatment just hours after birth. For more on this story, click here
