March 04--A pioneering research team from the University of Massachusetts Medical
School, Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the University of Mississippi
Medical Center said they have made a breakthrough in the search for a cure for
HIV-infected infants, after a dramatic treatment and recovery case.
Researchers said beginning a combination anti-retroviral treatment of an
HIV-infected baby in Mississippi just 30 hours after that child's birth
ultimately appears to have killed the virus. It was a single case, which means
researchers now have to launch extended studies to determine whether and how
well this might work in other children.
"This case is remarkable because the child was treated, then off
treatment for many months and has been able to control the virus without
rebound," UMass Medical School immunologist Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga told the
Herald yesterday. "It suggests that very early treatment may allow the
curtailment of the formation of the viral reservoirs that serve as barriers to
cure."
Specialists at a major AIDS meeting in Atlanta yesterday said the case
offers promising clues to eliminating HIV in children, especially in
AIDS-plagued African countries.
"You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we've
seen," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.
A University of Mississippi doctor gave the baby faster and stronger
treatment than usual, starting three drugs within 30 hours of birth -- before
tests confirmed the infant was infected by a mother whose HIV wasn't diagnosed
until she was in labor.
"I just felt like this baby was at higher-than-normal risk, and deserved
our best shot," said Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at
Mississippi.
Tests during the treatment showed a diminishing viral presence in the
infant's blood. By day 29, the baby showed no signs of the virus. Doctors
continued to administer anti-viral medications for the next 17 months. Then,
because of circumstances beyond doctors' control, the child stopped receiving
treatment for 10 months. When the child returned, tests found no trace of HIV
in the child's bloodstream.
This case appears to show that promptly administering antiviral treatment
to HIV-infected babies may halt the formation of hard-to-treat viral
reservoirs of dormant cells that reignite the infection in most HIV patients
within weeks of stopping therapy.
"What we need to do now is do more studies to allow us to understand if
this can be easily generalized for all children," said Luzuriaga of UMass,
whose ultra-sensitive testing procedures helped confirm the virus was gone.
"Up until this point, we had never thought you could treat a child, then take
them off treatment."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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