A nine-year-old South African child who was infected with HIV at birth has spent most of his/her life without needing any treatment, say doctors in South Africa.
The child, whose identity is being protected, was given a burst of treatment shortly after birth.The child have since been off drugs for eight-and-a-half years without symptoms or signs of active virus.The family is said to be “really delighted”.
Most people need treatment every day to prevent HIV destroying the immune system and causing Aids. Understanding how the child is protected could lead to new drugs or a vaccine for stopping HIV. The child caught the infection from their mother around the time of birth in 2007. They had very high levels of HIV in the blood.
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