Doctors in the United States have made medical history by successfully curing a child born with HIV.

Doctors believe that the now two-and-a-half-year-old child no longer needs HIV medication, has a normal life expectancy and is also highly unlikely to be infectious to others, the Guardian reported.

Thirty hours after the child was born, doctors treated the baby with a course of three antiretroviral drugs. The drugs were more aggressive than the traditional treatment of a single antiretroviral drug.

“Now, after at least one year of taking no medicine, this child‘s blood remains free of virus even on the most sensitive tests available,” Dr. Hannah Gay, who cared for the child at the University of Mississippi, told the Guardian.

“We expect that this baby has great chances for a long, healthy life. We are certainly hoping that this approach could lead to the same outcome in many other high-risk babies,” she added.

Though doctors remain unsure as to why the treatment was effective, the surprising outcome has raised hopes that it might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus in newborns.

By Park So-eun (spark@heraldcorp.com)