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 through perinatal transmission -- HIV
transmission from an infected mother to a child whi