Baby Cured of H.I.V. for the First Time

This is big: A baby born with H.I.V., now two years old, appears to be fully cured. The only other person ever cured was a man who received a marrow transplant from someone genetically resistant to the virus.

The baby, born in rural Mississippi, was treated aggressively with antiretroviral drugs starting around 30 hours after birth, something that is not usually done. If further study shows this works in other babies, it will almost certainly be recommended globally. The United Nations estimates that 330,000 babies were newly infected in 2011, the most recent year for which there is data, and that more than three million children globally are living with H.I.V.

The report that issued the findings is here. [New York Times]