HIV re-emerges in `Mississippi baby`

Zee Media Bureau

Washington: Dashing the hopes of the scientists that doctors may have found a way to cure young children of HIV, a baby girl thought to have been cured of the dreaded virus, has now been detected with the return of the it in her blood.

The four-year-old toddler was born prematurely in 2010 in Mississippi to an HIV-infected mother who ceased to receive antiretroviral medication during pregnancy.

The child also known as the 'Mississippi baby', was put on HIV medication just hours after labour. She received treatment until 18 months and was later put off medicines. She showed no signs of HIV infection in her blood till two years.

However, last week when she came for a routine check-up, the girl was found to have detectable HIV levels in her blood samples.

All those factors signaled that HIV was actively replicating again in her body.

The case of the 'Mississippi girl' is certainly a setback for scientists who still need to research more, if early treatment may reverse permanent infection.

(With Agency inputs)