March 5, 2013 (USA TODAY) -- More than 300,000 babies a year
worldwide are born infected with HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS. As of this week, doctors appear to have cured exactly one.
And though the Mississippi child's story has generated
excitement in the medical community, researchers also note that
it probaby will take years before they're able to extend that
success to a broader community of patients, if ever. "This is a
really groundbreaking report," says Diane Havlir, a professor
and AIDS researcher at the University of California-San
Francisco, who attended a presentation of the study Monday at an
Atlanta medical conference. "This tells us a cure is possible,"
says Havlir, who wasn't involved in the study, about a 2-year-
old girl who was infected with HIV at birth but apparently cured
after 18 months of triple-drug therapy. "That is thrilling
news." Doctors credit the child's cure to early treatment; her
physicians began treatment soon after delivery, which is the
standard of care for the child of an