- A South African girl was born with HIV
- Doctors started her on HIV treatment at two months old but stopped 40 weeks later
- More than eight years later, the HIV infection in her body has been suppressed
A South African girl who was born with HIV has gone into remission for more than eight years despite not being on antiretroviral therapy.
Doctors started the girl, who has not been identified, on HIV treatment when she was two months old but stopped 40 weeks later as part of a medical trial.
Doctors carried out tests on her when she was nine years old. Remarkably, they found that the virus was only present in a small number of immune system cells and was incapable of reproducing.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Source: ABC News
READ ALSO: Senator Dino Melaye takes time off to rest in London (photos)
Researchers led by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci made the revelation on Monday, July 24 at the IAS Conference on HIV Science in Paris.
Dr. Fauci, a top US immunologist, said the girl does not have a gene mutation that may have given her a natural resistance to the virus. Therefore, her remission is more likely due to early treatment.
The researchers therefore believe that the girl's case means that early treatment can result in a long remission that would constitute a form of cure for HIV.
Dr. Fauci said: "This new case strengthens our hope that by treating HIV-infected children for a brief period beginning in infancy, we may be able to spare them the burden of life-long therapy."
PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App
This form of cure does not eradicate the virus but weakens it to the extent that it cannot replicate or spread to a patient's partner.
The researchers also presented encouraging results for alternative ARV therapy that could see patients taking just one injection in a month or two instead of daily pills.
Watch NAIJ.com related video below.