clearance of HIV in the newborn
Last reviewed 01/2018
There have been reports concerning a child whose mother had HIV infection that had negative cultures for HIV at birth. The child then had positive cultures at 19 days of age and at 51 days of age. On the latter occasion the virus was cultured from plasma and blood cells. Subsequent cultures for the virus were negative; as was PCR testing for viral antigen. The child became HIV-antibody negative and remains well 5 years later (1)
There have also been other less well documented cases in the literature.
These cases suggest that HIV infection in some neonates may be transient. The mechanism for this apparent transient infection is not known.
Reference:
- McIntosh K, Burchett SK (1995). Clearance of HIV - lessons from newborns. NEJM, 332, 883-4.