Three newborn babies were declared to be HIV-free after being treated with a revolutionary new drug, UK MailOnline reported. The same treatment helped a fourth child's virus to go down to "a very low level."
The findings, which will be announced at the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne from July 20, is being touted as a major breakthrough in the fight against AIDS, with scientists hoping it could lead to a cure if early treatment is received. Although details about the cured infants were not shared, more is expected to be released when 14,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries descend on Melbourne to share their research and the latest scientific advances in the field.
After the four Canadian-born children contracted the virus from their mothers, they were immediately given a high dose of three different antiretroviral drugs only hours after being born.
However, the results cannot officially be labeled as a "cure" yet, Professor Sharon Lewin, AIDS 2014 co-chairman, told the Daily Mail Australia. "'At the moment, the doctors do not know whether they are in fact cured. The only way they can tell is if they stop the anti-HIV drugs and see if it comes back," Lewin said.
"We are excited about this though because all four received very early treatment after delivery, and when doctors tried to locate the virus they could find virtually no viruses in their systems."
"These baby cases, and more cases amongst adults, tell us that if we treat HIV very early in some people were able to stop it. And in some people, maybe only 10 per cent or so who start treatment very early, it might even be safe for them to stop taking their drugs and their virus stays under control. However this is still a research question that needs to be addressed and you must keep in mind that the best way to stop babies getting HIV is to treat the mother during pregnancy," she added.
News of the four babies and their success stories comes only a year after the very first child to ever be "cured" of HIV was officially announced.
Born in Mississippi in 2013, the 30-hours-old baby was given a three-drug antiretroviral therapeutic prescription and was cleared of any infection in 2013, according to the University of Mississippi, Dr. Hannah Gay associate professor of pediatrics and a HIV specialist.
