HIV cases in PH hit record-high in May

PEOPLE living with HIV could soon access injectable treatment which is more convenient and less stigmatising than daily oral pills, scientists at the 9th International Aids Society Conference on HIV Science in Paris, France, have revealed.

While the child being in remission raises hope, experts urged caution. And while hoping that the child would never have an active infection, Fauci noted that HIV tends to hide in "funny places" and that it is "not entirely inconceivable" a small amount of the virus may remain in the body and start replicating again.

"The real test will come in five to 10 years once the funding goes down", Harman said, explaining that some countries will likely be unable to maintain the United Nations -funded AIDS programs by themselves. "It is encouraging to see a child going for such a long period of time without rebounding", Fauci said.

A total of 286 HIV-positive patients took part in the Phase II trial, having already suppressed the virus with oral medication.

There have been two other examples of early, limited treatment leading to outcomes like the one seen in this child, Rizza said, including the case of a baby in MS who received treatment just hours after birth and later went into remission for 27 months.

Donor government funding to support HIV efforts in low- and middle-income countries decreased to $7 billion past year from $7.5 billion in 2015, the lowest level since 2010, said a report published last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS. It also has given renewed interest in early antiretroviral therapy in infancy.

Prevention of mother to child coverage in Swaziland has been between 90 and 100 per cent since 2011 and was estimated to be 95 per cent (81 per cent to less than 95 per cent) in 2016.

Researchers do not understand how the girl achieved remission when 410 other children in the trial did not.

Other collaborating governmental entities in Swaziland included the Health Research Unit, Swaziland Health Laboratory Services (SHLS), Swaziland National AIDS Program (SNAP), Health Promotion Unit, Health Management Information System, Environmental Health Department, and National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA). Another factor may be that their very early treatment did not give the virus a chance to fully establish itself. As of past year, 12 had been in remission a decade on average.

The child has had a healthy immune system for more than eight years after receiving a short course of treatment in early life, according to a new study. By the time the treatment was completed, the child was free of any detectable viral load.

Rizza said cases like the child in South Africa are "interesting" and worthy of study, but still unclear at this point.

"I do want to caution that many kids around the world have been treated, and, having gone through this with the MS child, I think it's important to know this is a very rare outcome, a notable outcome, but not a common one", she said.