Baby treated for aids now virus-free

Doctors announced a second case of a baby who is free of the HIV virus after being treated within hours of birth. The baby was born in Los Angeles to a mother infected with HIV and who had not been taking her medications. Four hours after birth, the baby was given high, treatment-level doses of antiretroviral drugs even before tests confirmed the baby was HIV-positive. After 6 days, the virus was undetectable. The baby, now aged 11 months, is still being treated with antiretroviral drugs. Doctors said they may stop therapy once she turns two to see if she would be in remission. The latest research follows the approach taken for a Mississippi baby, who has been off treatment for 21 months and still has no detectable virus in her system. There is no known cure for AIDS, which has infected some 70 million people around the world and killed 35 million.

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