Hirsch noted that HIV therapy given to an infected mother prior to birth has been shown to prevent transmission of the virus to her newborn.
“Because of that, I think it’s possible there may be some potential to prevent HIV infection in the first place after exposure with early therapies,” he said.
A clinical trial is moving forward to examine treatment of HIV-positive babies within the first 48 hours of life, using a drug combination similar to that administered to the Mississippi baby, Persaud said.
Dr. Michael Horberg, director of HIV/AIDS for Kaiser Permanente, agreed there is still merit to the strategy of aggressive early treatment for HIV-born infants.
“I think we will find a functional cure. We just haven’t found it yet,” Horberg said. “That doesn’t mean the principles of a strategy of hitting hard for an extended period should not work.”
At the same time, doctors should not become too hung up on the promise of a cure, when current drug therapies are as successful at controlling HIV infection as blood pressure medications are at controlling blood pressure, Hirsch said.
“Our treatments are very well-tolerated, and I think we should avoid cures that are worse than the treated disease itself,” he said.
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