Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - 5 Oct 1995
The breakthrough case was described in a letter in the Oct. 7 issue of the weekly medical journal The Lancet. Several similar cases have been reported among children, but none as old as 9.
Reports of apparently natural recoveries from the AIDS virus have sparked both excitement and controversy among experts.
"This child showed that it is possible to clear the virus naturally," said Dr. Carlo Giaquinto, a pediatrician at the University of Padova and co-author of the letter.
Some doctors, like Gianquinto, say these babies may provide crucial clues for designing more effective anti-AIDS treatments.
But skeptics -- and there are many -- wonder whether these babies were ever truly infected or whether the AIDS virus is still lurking in these children undetected by standards tests.
Though symptom-free and virus-free, the boy has a still-unidentified immune deficiency.
"I think it's potentially interesting but it's difficult to know whether it's real," said Dr. Thomas Schulz, an AIDS expert at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London.
"I think the (samples) that they made early on, when the baby was less than a year old, should be checked rigorously to exclude the possibility of contamination," said Schulz.
Investigators said the boy tested positive for the virus at three months and seven months of age. By 16 months, all tests showed the boy did not have the virus.
Although he appears fine, the boy's CD4 counts -- the cells that are destroyed by HIV -- have been declining for the past four years. Doctors say they do not know why.
Earlier this year, a New England Journal of Medicine report of another child who seemed to clear itself of HIV triggered widespread publicity. Much of the initial excitement has been tempered by scientists who do not believe the baby was ever infected with HIV.
Giaquinto said there have been a half dozen similar cases reported in Europe.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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