Sunday, March 3, 2013

US baby "cured" of HIV. Too premature yet to celebrate

One of the trending topics on Twitter was HIV so I clicked on it and found news reports about an American baby girl who was "functionally" cured of HIV.  Here's the news item: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/03/health/hiv-toddler-cured/index.html

By the way, I am always online in Twitter and in YM than in Facebook.  That's why I came across that article.

Anyway, I read through the new report. While I am happy that the toddler was cured of HIV via early intervention after she was administered antiretroviral drugs within several hours after delivery, we should be cautious yet about whether it will work also for adults.

I've seen tweets from people celebrating the medical development but I dare say that it is too early to do so. While early detection and intervention can work in adults in such a way that it can stop HIV from progressing into AIDS, the fact is that there is yet no cure at all for the ailment or no medicine that can kill the virus in an infected person's system.

We have to remember that ARVs can control the virus from multiplying much but it cannot, I repeat, it cannot get rid of the virus from a PLHIV's system.

I will only celebrate once an infected adult had been completely cured of HIV after several tests and that cure can be commercially available to PLHIVs at an affordable price.

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