A French teenager infected at birth with HIV has shown the ability to control levels of the infection in her body -- without being on antiretroviral treatment.
The finding provides new hope that a "functional" cure for HIV -- where the virus is brought down to low levels but not eradicated in the body -- may one day be possible.
The 18-year-old female, whose mother was HIV positive, was given antiretroviral treatment soon after birth but stopped at age six and has since maintained undetectable levels of the virus in her blood -- known as remission -- for 12 years.
"This is the first [time] long-term remission has been shown in children, or adolescents," said Asier Saez Cirion from the Institut Pasteur in France, who presented the findings at the 8th IAS conference on HIV pathogenesis, treatment and prevention, in Vancouver this week.
Just a thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment