The first documented cure of an HIV infected baby

When AIDS was first discovered it was a disease that eventually kills the patient. With new antiviral therapies, AIDS, and the corresponding HIV infection, is now a disease that is manageable. Nevertheless, HIV remains a big problem because the virus cannot be eradicated completely and it is still readily spreading around the globe, especially because it can be transferred from the mother to the unborn child. But now, for the first time, doctors have reported to have cured a baby infected with HIV, an incredible milestone. The patient was a newborn that was 'aggressively' treated with antiviral drugs.

Patient
According to the doctors, treatment was initiated 30 hours after birth, which is much earlier than what is normally done. Doctors normally wait with inducing treatment until a HIV-infected baby is a bit older. However, starting early proved effective: the child, born in rural Mississippi  is now two years old, and deemed free of the virus. Even though traces of the virus remain, they appear to be inactive in the child's body, and when treatment was ceased for a couple of months, the HIV infection did not return.

Second
Only one case of a HIV cure has previously been reported and consequently validated. The patient, Timothy Brown, was treated quite differently, but still ended up free of the virus. Because he was suffering from leukaemia, which is actually a common consequence of AIDS, he was given a bone marrow transplant. The donor happened to be genetically resistant to HIV, and his marrow consequently cured Brown. While this makes two cases in total, it is the first time that a baby is reportedly cured from HIV. This is important because many babies are born infected, and it would therefore be highly relevant to be able to cure this group of patients.

Reservations
Not everyone is convinced that this is the real deal. One of the things that needs to be resolved is to establish that the baby was indeed infected with HIV at birth. More information will likely be given early next week, when the scientists that studied the child present their findings. Should this be a genuine cure, then it is likely that other doctors will follow the example and start an aggressive form of treatment with antivirals on newborns that are infected with HIV. A thorough study is needed to uncover whether this is actually a proper way to cure patients.