A French teenager who was born infected with HIV was able to control the infection in her body despite that she stopped taking antiretroviral treatment 12 years ago.

Doctors said that the remission is unprecedented and that the 18-year old may have some form of natural resistance to AIDS virus that has not yet been discovered. Her case gives hope for a functional cure wherein the virus may not be eliminated in the body but it can be brought down to low levels and allow patients to control it without relying on lifelong drugs.

The female patient, who was born from an HIV positive mother, was given antiretroviral treatment soon after she was born but stopped the treatment when she was six years old. Interestingly, she was able to maintain undetectable levels of the HIV virus in her blood since then.

Asier Saez-Cirion, from France's Institut Pasteur, who presented the girl's case at the 8th International AIDS Society conference in Vancouver, said that it is the first time that long term remission was seen in children or adolescents.

Researchers believe that something unique in the girl's biology along with early treatment may have allowed her to control the infection albeit the exact reason currently remains a mystery.

The girl initially received antiretroviral drugs to prevent infection and then treated with a combination of four antiretroviral drugs after the virus persisted.

The teenager, whose identity was not disclosed, was not able to continue with her treatment when she was between five and six years old. When she returned for check-ups a year later, she was found to have undetectable levels of HIV in her blood regardless of her break from treatment. Now, after more than 12 years, the virus still remains undetectable.

A similar case was reported a few years ago involving a girl from Mississippi who kept her HIV in check for 27 months without treatment although the virus later rebounded. At least a dozen adult patients also had remission for about 10 years after stopping their medication but the girl's case is now known to be the first long lasting one that began in childhood.

"This case is clearly additional evidence of the powerful benefit of starting treatment as soon as possible," said Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, from the Pasteur Institute.

It isn't yet known though if the remission will last.

Photo: NIAID | Flickr