Scientists at Johns Hopkins University announced on March 3rd 2013 what they say is the first documented case of a child being cured of HIV. Dr. Persaud described the case of a two-year-old child in Mississippi diagnosed with HIV at birth and immediately put on antiretroviral therapy. According to a press release from the Foundation for AIDS research:
“At 18 months, the child ceased taking antiretrovirals and was lost to follow-up. When brought back into care at 23 months, despite being off treatment for five months, the child was found to have an undetectable viral load”.
Dr. Persaud and Dr. Luzuriaga of the University of Massachusetts were awarded a grant by the Foundation for AIDS research to work with other researchers in exploring and documenting potential pediatric HIV cure cases. Dr. Johnston, the Foundation for AIDS research vice president and director of research commented by saying:
“The child’s pediatrician in Mississippi was aware of the work we were doing, and quickly notified our team as soon as this young patient’s case came to her attention…the researchers were able to mobilize immediately and perform the tests necessary to determine if this was in fact a case of a child being cured.”
After many highly sensitive tests, it was confirmed that the child was cured of HIV.
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 (in green) budding from cultured lymphocyte. Multiple round bumps on cell surface represent sites of assembly and budding of virions, which are the complete, infective forms of a virus outside a host cell. Image via Wikimedia Commons
The only other documented case of HIV being cured to date is that of Timothy Brown. In 2006, while on treatment for HIV, Mr. Brown was diagnosed with leukemia. His physician treated his leukemia with a stem-cell transplant from a patient who was born with a genetic mutation causing immunity the HIV virus. After the transplant was complete, Mr. Brown was able to stop HIV treatment without experiencing a return of his HIV disease.
This new case points to the possibility that different populations of HIV positive people might be cured in different ways. While Mr. Brown’s case was the outcome of a complex, high-risk and expensive series of procedures, this new case appears to have been the direct result of a comparatively inexpensive course of antiretroviral therapy.
The bottom line is that John Hopkins medical researcher Dr. Deborah Persaud and her colleagues have now described the first known case of a child born with HIV, who has now been cured. The only other case of someone being cured of HIV remains that of Timothy Brown. Persaud and her colleagues say their work confirms the idea that different populations of HIV-positive people might be cured in different ways.
