HIV 'cure' in toddler offers 'global hope' Some 1,000 infants
born with HIV every day The case of the first toddler ever to be
"functionally cured" of HIV could have wide-ranging effects on
the global fight to end the AIDS epidemic. "If we can replicate
this in other infants ... this has huge implications for the
burden of infection that's occurring globally," said Dr. Deborah
Persaud, a pediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
Persaud is the lead author of a report on the toddler's case
that was presented at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and
Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta on Monday. "For the
unfortunate ones who do get infected, if this can be replicated,
this would offer real hope of clearing the virus." Some 1,000
infants are born with HIV every day, according to the latest
estimates from the UNAIDS Global Report. That means some 330,000
children are living with the deadly virus. The majority of these
infections are in the developing world. The most common way
children get HIV is thr