Baby cured of HIV: What does this mean for the future of treatment?
March 7, 2013
The medical community is celebrating today, as scientists from Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the University of Mississippi have announced a case in which a Mississippi baby born with HIV has seemingly been 'cured' of the disease.
According to researchers, the child - who is now 2 � - has been off HIV medications for a year and does not show any sign of infection. If the baby remains healthy and in remission, this would be the second ever report of an HIV cure.
Using a much more aggressive treatment than usual, Dr. Hannah Gray, a pediatric specialist at the University of Mississippi, started the baby on a three-drug infusion within 30 hours of birth. This fast therapy apparently eradicated the HIV from the child's blood before it could form reservoirs of dormant cells in the body.
So what does all of this mean for the future of HIV treatment? Will this news change the way doctors treat at-risk babies moving forward? Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor for FoxNews.com, spoke with Dr. Julia Piwoz, chief section of pediatric infectious diseases at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital about the current state of HIV transmission in pregnant mothers and how this medical breakthrough may change the medical landscape - or not.

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Posted by Ken at 4:50 AM