The Cure is Near

For the first time, researchers have cured a baby born with HIV.  Don't get too excited though, a complete cure has not yet been discovered, this is what they call a 'functional cure'.   This is because the virus does not completely disappear, but it is reduced to a low enough level to where the body can control it.  

The treatment was nothing invasive or complex, it was as safe as a commonly available antiviral drug.  The difference however, was the dosage and timing; which began less than thirty hours after her birth.  "Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place," said lead researcher Deborah Persaud, of Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Maryland.  She also said it was the first time this feat was achieved in a baby.  

Although a cure for this deadly disease is almost here, this virus may be the next step for curing another one-cancer.  A genetically modified form of the HIV virus was implanted in cancer patients to re-program their immune systems to fight cancer cells.  This has proved successful, curing 2 of three patients as well as weakening the cancer in the third.  

Discovery News