Baby Cured Of HIV

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324539404578338300521959748.html

     Medical treatment has improved drastically now that a Mississippi baby born with the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) has been cured. 2 and a half years ago, doctors put the baby on treatment, within just 30 hours of her birth. At 18 months of age, the mother stopped bringing the baby in for checks, and she had been off treatment for at least 5 months. Dr. Hannah Gay, the baby girl’s pediatrician, ordered a test on the virus the next time she’d seen the baby to make sure the virus hadn’t developed a resistance to her treatment. She was surprised that there was no virus there to test. The baby had miraculously been cured, and they hadn’t known for how long she was HIV free.

     This astonishing discovery has triggered Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga to consider taking a group of teenagers born with the virus off their treatment. These teenagers showed no trace of the virus that could multiply. Not only does this bring up thoughts about whether or not people born with the virus are already cured, this could also bring up thoughts of how to cure people who contracted the virus. Perhaps doctors will look into the treatment given to those born with the virus and think of a way to help other HIV infected patients.

     Why does this matter to Californians? Well, it is very important to know about current medical discoveries. This information could apply to those with HIV or their family members. This could be the start of new groundbreaking medical research and could even be the key to finding out more information about STDs and HIV. As new discoveries about HIV come in about this treatment it could lead to an HIV free world even in places where HIV is a major killer. California residents should be aware of the advancing health field not only because it could change lives of people living with HIV but new jobs could be created in the research field of HIV. Other diseases similar to HIV could also be researched, helping change peoples’ lives for the better.