A baby born with HIV in Mississippi three years ago made headlines last year when she was “functionally cured” of the virus, after receiving treatment immediately after birth. Now, the Mississippi baby has company. At an AIDS conference in Boston, doctors announced Wednesday that a second baby, now 9 months old, from Long Beach, Calif., was cleared of HIV after receiving the same aggressive form of treatment just four hours after birth. The most recent announcement helps allay the initial skepticism that surrounded the Mississippi baby’s success story. In fact, the New York Times
reports, there may be eight more similar cases in Canada and South Africa.
When the Long Beach baby was born, doctors immediately took blood tests to screen for HIV and administered high doses of AZT, 3TC and nevirapine — the typical treatment for an HIV infection. The little girl’s mother was mentally ill and had advanced ...
