TRADITION — News of a Mississippi baby apparently cured of the virus that causes AIDS reinforced the lesson local AIDS experts have been preaching — the sooner treatment is started, the better the outcome.
"Early treatment is extremely important," said Nicholas Chomont, principal investigator at Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute in Tradition.
Fort Pierce AIDS specialist Dr. Moti Ramgopal echoed Chomont's call for early diagnosis and early treatment.
"(Newly infected) acute patients should be evaluated immediately," he said.
The news-making baby was a perfect candidate for proving the value of early treatment. The baby was born infected with HIV, which causes AIDS. Doctors at the University of Mississippi started treating her with antiviral drugs within 30 hours of her birth. The child continued taking antiviral drugs for 18 months, then stopped against her doctor's will. When she was checked several months later, doctors were surprised to discover no trace of the virus.
The now 2 1/2-year-old girl is the only known person known to have escaped HIV infection following drug treatment.
Researchers presented the groundbreaking case at an AIDS conference in Atlanta.
Scientists speculate the speedy treatment kept the virus from its infamous hiding act within cells. Much of the research at VGTI revolves around developing drugs that can destroy the virus by penetrating its hideouts.
"By treating so early on," Chomont said, "you prevent dissemination of the virus in the body."
He believes that like the baby, infected adults might escape the virus if they start treatment within days of infection. He's involved in a study in Thailand that supports this theory.
Unfortunately, he continued, most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Ramgopal urges people at risk for HIV to get tested at the first signs of infection. Early symptoms are like those of mild flu.
"ER doctors are not thinking along the lines of HIV," Ramgpopal said. "Many patients are not tested when they should be."
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