In a first, Mississipi baby is cured of AIDS virus

05 March, 2013

A team of medical researchers on 3rd March 2013 announced that a baby has been cured of HIV infection for the first time in the medical history. This incident has taken place in Mississipi, where the baby was detected with AIDS virus and was given an aggressive regimen of drugs just after her birth.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which gradually affects the immune system and weakens it. HIV infection can spread from one person to another through unprotected sex, transfer of blood, breast milk and from the infected parents to the child. People with HIV can live and healthy life but with an access to treatment.

Since HIV was first reported substantial progress in the research and development of antiviral drugs has been made and approved by FDA. But these treatments do not cure the diseases, rather they suppress the virus and make the people affected with HIV to lead a lingering, but and healthier life. However they must depend on the antiviral drugs for lifetime to maintain their health quality.

But the new findings, reported by the researchers, confirm that the child born in Mississippi would be only the second well-documented case of a cure in the world. This is a new ray of hope for the research and developments which are aimed at finding a cure to HIV. Now a further research is being done on this new finding, to confirm whether very early treatment can cure HIV-infected newborns. Some experts also said that the findings in the baby may not be relevant to adults.

WHO guidelines have called for treating infants born to an HIV-infected mother, but they are starting with a modest daily dose of anti-retroviral treatment for four to six weeks (until the testing determines the babies own status of HIV). If the baby is found HIV positive then aggressive treatment is begun. But WHO still doesn't suggest using more intense medication approach right after birth, because the study is not still clear and also the over-treatment would risk wasting scarce medications that offer a better chance of helping other patients.

Studies are being planned to look into this issue of early testing and aggressive treatment. If this new finding really works, then it can work for other babies too. While the bone marrow transplant that cured Timothy Brown is a grueling and life-threatening procedure, the Mississippi treatment is not and could become a new standard of care, reported NDTV.