U.S. researchers recently reported that they have achieved the first “functional cure” for infants infected with HIV through antiretroviral therapy.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Medical Center, the University of Mississippi and other institutions said they selected a baby girl infected with HIV through mother-to-child transmission for treatment two years ago. Thirty hours after the baby was born, the researchers administered a combination of antiretroviral treatments.
Tests showed that the amount of HIV in the baby’s blood declined significantly after treatment and was undetectable 29 days after birth. The researchers continued her antiretroviral treatment for the next 18 months and found that 10 months after stopping treatment, her body was still negative for HIV and no HIV was detected in routine blood tests.
The researchers said, “Antiretroviral treatment of newborns prevents the HIV harboring in the body from infecting host cells, and the therapy clears and suppresses the virus to achieve a ‘functional cure’ without lifelong treatment.”
The researchers say that eradicating HIV, or a “radical cure” for AIDS, is currently elusive. Since drug treatment for HIV-infected infants now generally begins between three and four months after birth, early and accurate antiretroviral treatment is important for HIV-infected infants.