Doctors in Los Angeles believe that a second baby born with the AIDS virus has possibly been cured of the disease.
Doctors hope that early treatment is key to eradicating signs of the virus, with the baby treated four hours after birth. An earlier case, revealed a month ago, saw a baby from Mississippi ostensibly cured HIV, having not received any treatment for two years and showing no signs of the virus in a series of tests. The Mississippi baby is now 3 ½ years old, and it was this case that indicated to doctors that early and sustained action was integral to successful treatment. The Mississippi baby was treated by doctors until the age of 18 months, and remained disease-free despite the mother not continuing to administer treatments. As such, the Los Angeles baby continues to receive medication for her condition, though a series of tests completed at various times suggests that, she, too, is a void of the virus almost one year later.
"We don't know if the baby is in remission ... but it looks like that," said Dr. Yvonne Bryson, an infectious disease specialist at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA who consulted on the girl's care.
The baby's mother had previously given birth at the same hospital, and doctors were aware that she hadn't been taking her AIDS medication. When she was in labor, doctors administered drugs to combat the virus in a bid to prevent transmission to the child; after birth, doctors proceeded to treat the baby accordingly.
Typically, mothers with HIV are given AIDS medication throughout the length of their pregnancy, which dramatically reduces the risk of the child contracting the virus. In the case of the Mississippi baby, her mother's HIV was discovered during labor, meaning that she had not received any such prenatal treatment. As a result, doctors were aware that the baby had a high risk of being born with the disease, and began treating 30 hours after she was born. At that time, they were still unsure if she was infected.
Though it remains too early to be sure, the Los Angeles baby is responding to treatment differently from those whose virus has simply been suppressed. She is now in foster care and is being closely monitored by medical professionals.
