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Child Reportedly Cured Of HIV

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Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding (in green) from cultured lymphocyte. (Wikipedia)
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding (in green) from cultured lymphocyte. (Wikipedia)

Immunologists across the globe are all aflutter today at the news that, for the first time ever, a child is believed to have been cured of HIV. The baby contracted the virus in utero from her mother, who was unaware that she even had the disease. The baby received rigorous antiretroviral drugs from about 30 hours after birth until she was 18 months old. The child is now two-and-a-half years old and has no sign of the virus.

Guest

Stephen Boswell, president and CEO of Fenway Health and former head of HIV Clinical Services at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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NPR "If this approach is proven effective, we could dramatically change the way children born with HIV are treated."

The New York Times "[I]f you treat before the virus has had an opportunity to establish a large reservoir and before it can destroy the immune system, there’s a chance you can withdraw therapy and have no virus.”

This segment aired on March 4, 2013.

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