18-year-old born with HIV fight disease without taking drugs for 12 years

 A teenager born with HIV is in remission despite stopping treatment 12 years ago in what doctors are saying is unprecedented.

The case of the unnamed 18-year-old, from France, was described at an International AIDS conference in Vancouver, Canada, by Dr Asier Saez-Cirion of the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Dr Saez-Cirion said at least a dozen adults have had remissions for an average of 10 years after stopping HIV medication, but this case is the first long-lasting remission that began when the patient was a child.

‘This is an exciting story,’ Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, a scientist at the Pasteur Institute and co-discoverer of HIV, said.