US News

HIV baby ‘cured’

In a stunning medical development, scientists announced yesterday that a Mississippi baby born with HIV appears to have been cured after receiving early treatment.

The child, now 2, was born with the virus that causes AIDS and treated aggressively with drugs starting 30 hours after his birth.

He has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

There’s no guarantee the child will remain healthy, although sophisticated testing uncovered just traces of the virus’ genetic material still lingering. If so, it would mark only the world’s second reported cure.

Specialists say the announcement, at a major AIDS meeting in Atlanta, offers promising clues for efforts to eliminate HIV infection in children, especially in AIDS-plagued African countries where many babies are born with the deadly virus.