By Emily Efthimiades

A toddler that had been diagnosed with HIV at birth has been cured. This offers major medical opportunities when it comes to hopefully finding a cure for AIDS. If doctors can replicate this in other infants they can stop the spread of babies that are HIV infected with the potential of developing AIDS. “If we can replicate this in other infants … this has huge implications for the burden of infection that’s occurring globally,” said Dr. Deborah Persaud, a pediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Over 1,000 infants infected with HIV are born daily according to the latest estimates from UNAIDS Global Report. This means that over 330,000 children could potentially develop AIDS. The most common way these children develop HIV is from paternal transmission. HIV transmission from an infected mother to a child while she is pregnant is possible when giving birth or when she breast-feeds the child.

The number of infants that have been diagnosed with HIV in the United States has gone down 90% since the mid 90’s. Most of this is because of the vigorous tests pregnant women are put through to test and see if the virus is present. If the mother is diagnosed however, there are many precautions the doctor takes to prevent the child from getting the disease, which usually works.

However in nations where the countries are still developing, and pregnant women do not have the opportunities to get these tests, if the have the disease they will most likely pass it to their child. Mothers are less likely to be treated with antiretroviral drugs that would prevent transmission during pregnancy. In North Africa and the Middle East, for instance, 3% of pregnant women with HIV received antiretroviral medications, according to the U.N. report. Some 23% in West and Central Africa did. Testing is also less sophisticated in these areas.

“We are enthusiastic about the potential of this case, but it is one case and it needs to be replicated and confirmed through future studies and clinical trials,” said Dr. Meg Doherty, the World Health Organization’s Department of HIV/AIDS coordinator of treatment and care. “We will not be changing any of our current guidance in this case, but we will continue to watch for new information and provide updates to our prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and early infant diagnosis guidance as necessary.”

Medicines that treat HIV are very pricey, but it is cheaper to treat an infant for two years, rather then a whole lifetime of treatment after infection. Doctors are very optimistic and if this can be repeated, this discovery could make a huge difference internationally.