In a major blow to the cure research movement, the famed “Mississippi Baby,” thought to be functionally cured of HIV, has experienced a resurgence of the virus and is once again taking antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. In March 2013, researchers first described how a baby, born to an HIV-positive woman in Mississippi who did not take ARVs during her pregnancy, was started on an atypically aggressive treatment regimen 30 hours after birth. Treatment continued until the mother and child dropped out of care for a five-month period, returning when the child was 18 months old. At that point the toddler showed no signs of the virus, so the clinicians did not restart treatment. During this summer, the now 4-year-old child developed a viral load of about 10,000 to 17,000. The care team restarted treatment, ending the still-phenomenal 27-month stretch. Expressing their profound disappointment over this turn of events, researchers said they see a silver lining in the fact that they have learned a great deal from the case.
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