The child responded well through age 18 months, when the family temporarily quit returning and stopped treatment, researchers said. When they returned several months later, remarkably, Gay's standard tests detected no virus in the child's blood.
Ten months after treatment stopped, a battery of super-sensitive tests at half a dozen laboratories found no sign of the virus' return. There were only some remnants of genetic material that don't appear able to replicate, Persaud said.
In Mississippi, Gay gives the child a check-up every few months: "I just check for the virus and keep praying that it stays gone."
The mother's HIV is being controlled with medication and she is "quite excited for her child," Gay added.
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