After decades of struggling to find a cure for the deadly disease HIV Aids, there has been a glimpse of hope. Researchers announced on Sunday that the first baby has been cured of the human immunodeficiency virus.
The infant is now two and a half years old and HIV negative. The child’s mother was unaware she had HIV until delivery so prenatal treatment that could have prevented the disease was not given.
Without these prenatal drugs, the baby was at a high risk of receiving the disease. Dr. Hannah Gay, the infant’s pediatrician, decided to treat the infant early on with three types of drugs.
After 15-18 months of treatment, the mother took her child off of the medicines. At 23 months the baby returned to the office revealing a negative viral load. The doctors ran multiple tests to make sure the results were accurate.
At 28 months the baby returned to the office revealing yet again another negative test result. The doctors were overjoyed to reveal that the child had been cured and showed no signs of the virus ever coming back.
Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga of The University of Massachusetts Medical School, confirmed the baby’s condition. When asked about the potential breakthrough in treating HIV Aids, Dr. Luzuriaga responded:
‘“Well, it’s one case. But often a single case can tell you a lot, mostly because it stimulates intense interest you develop hypotheses. And that’s where the real breakthrough and confirmation come in.”
This story has been a true miracle for the Mississippi mother and her child. This cure provides hope for the millions of people around the world suffering from HIV Aids and shows that maybe their cure is just around the corner.
Amber Qalagari 