A Mississippi girl born with the AIDS virus and in remission for several years despite stopping treatment now shows signs that she still harbors HIV and therefore is not cured. The news is a setback to hopes that very early treatment with powerful HIV drugs might reverse an infection that has seemed permanent once it takes hold.
The girl is now nearly 4. As recently as March, doctors had said that she seemed free of HIV despite not having been on AIDS drugs for about two years. That was a medical first.
But on Thursday, her doctors and officials at the National Institutes of Health said new tests showed that she is no longer in remission. She is now back on treatment and is responding well, doctors said.