On Sunday, March 4, researchers announced that a Mississippi toddler has become the first child to ever be functionally cured of HIV, giving hope to many HIV- and AIDS-infected people worldwide that a cure to this seemingly incurable virus may be on the horizon.
Typically, pregnant women in the United States are tested for HIV as a routine part of prenatal care so that those who are diagnosed can receive proper treatment in order to decrease the chances of their child inheriting the virus. The mother of this child, however, had not received any prenatal care, and thus did not learn of her infection until after the infant had been born, causing doctors to employ more aggressive treatment methods than usual.
Two years later, after a cessation in the administration of anti-retroviral medications, the toddler has shown no more signs of the virus in either her blood or her DNA.
While a cure for the virus in adults may not be within reach for quite some time, these findings may save the lives of the many children born with HIV through more aggressive treatments within the first days after birth. In light of this good news, it is only fitting to pay homage to the improvements that have been made in HIV and AIDS treatment in the past thirty years.
According to data gathered in November 2012 by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, today more than 34 million people live with HIV and AIDS, and 3.3 million of them are under the age of 15. Many of these children and young adults contracted the virus while still in the womb.
While many here in the United States do not consider the spread of HIV and AIDS to be as big of a domestic issue as it is in the developing world, the Centers for Disease Control have reported that there are around 50,000 new HIV infections per year in this country (although those numbers have stabilized in recent years). While the rate of infection in the United States is substantially lower than many places around the globe, it was not long ago that an AIDS diagnosis was considered a death sentence.
While an AIDS diagnosis lowered life expectancy drastically in the 1980s and 90s, today there are 31 medications approved to treat HIV (according to innovation.org, a subset of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America). While in the 1990s a person diagnosed with AIDS was expected to live for a period of just a few months, today with treatment they can expect to live for years with little to no symptoms.
Many of these improvements have been made due to the approval of anti-retroviral treatments in 1995, which have been shown to reduce the death rate of the virus by 83 percent. According to Dr. Hannah Gay, the pediatrician that treated the Mississippi toddler, an early and aggressive use of these treatments is credited for the two-year absence of the virus within the body of the child.
Effective treatments are only a small part of the progress that has been made in the global fight against HIV and AIDS. The major progress in decreasing the effects of HIV and AIDS has been in preventing transmission from occurring in the first place, through increased access to contraceptives and sex education about the dangers of risky sexual behavior.
By identifying at-risk populations—such as those that engage in intravenous drug use and those who have multiple sexual partners and do not use contraception—and paying special attention to at-risk demographics, the CDC has developed a comprehensive strategy that has helped to reduce the rates of HIV and AIDS in the United States drastically since the epidemic’s onset in the 1980s.
Here at Puget Sound we have several options for students worried about their own potential exposure to HIV and other more common sexually transmitted diseases. Counseling, Health and Wellness Services offers free condoms as well as lower rates for STD screenings and treatments. The Tacoma Planned Parenthood Health Center also offers free condoms and STD screenings at a subsidized rate, as well as consultations about the importance of contraceptives and how one can engage in healthy and safe sexual activity.