A French teenager born with HIV has been in remission for 12 years after stopping her medication, in a world first that renews hope for the prospect of early treatment, researchers say.
The young woman, now 18, is not considered cured but is doing perfectly well off treatment, according to research led by Dr Asier Saez-Cirion.
The research, presented at the International AIDS Society conference in Canada this week, showed scientists had never before known of a case where a HIV-infected child went into long-term remission.
“We can detect HIV in the cells, but what we cannot detect is viral replication in the plasma,” Dr Saez-Cirion said.
“We don’t know yet why this girl was able to control the infection.”
The girl does not have the genetic factors associated with natural control of infection, which has been seen in a rare group of patients.
“Most likely she has been in virological remission for so long because she received a combination of antiretrovirals very soon after infection,” the report said.
The young woman, whose identity was not revealed, was infected with HIV either in utero or during childbirth in 1996.
When she was five years old her family dropped out of the treatment program for unknown reasons.
When they returned her to medical care one year later she “was found to have an undetectable viral load”, the report said.
Doctors decided not to resume antiretroviral treatment for the child, but continued monitoring her.
Researchers said the unconventional case bolsters growing evidence in adults that starting treatment is essential immediately after being infected with HIV.
Her case “suggests that long-term remission after early treatment is possible in children infected by HIV”, the report said.
AFP