Baby born to Aids parents shows no sign of virus

A SECOND baby has been born in Cyprus to parents who are both HIV-positive, but Makarios hospital doctors say the child shows no signs of having contracted the Aids virus.

Doctors at the hospital say the child was put on a course of preventive treatment and is being monitored very closely for any change in condition.

The mother also received a cocktail of drugs during her pregnancy to prevent her transmitting the virus to the baby.

The chances of the mother infecting the embryo are around 40 per cent, but the specialised preemptive treatment reduces the risk to around seven per cent.

However, doctors say they will not be a hundred per cent sure that the child has not contracted the deadly virus until several months have passed.

The hospital is nevertheless confident that with intensive treatment over the next six weeks and the pre-birth medical care given to the mother, the child will lead a healthy life.

The first baby to born in Cyprus to parents who were both HIV-positive was last year and doctors say that until now the child shows no signs of inheriting the virus.

Latest official statistics issued for the end of July reveal that 290 people on the island have been diagnosed as HIV-positive, 172 of whom are Cypriots.

The majority of those Cypriots infected are males aged between the ages of 20 and 40.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.