SciByte

They looked at papers published between 1996 and 2011 by 15 million scientists worldwide in many disciplines

The ranks of scientists who repeatedly published more than one paper per year thin out dramatically

Two or more: 68,221

Three or more: 37,953

Four or more: 23,342

Five or more: 15,464

10 or more: 3269

Many of these prolific scientists are likely the heads of laboratories or research groups; they bring in funding, supervise research, and add their names to the numerous papers that result

Others may be scientists with enough job security and time to do copious research themselves

there’s also a lot of grunt work behind these papers

from highly productive labs

doctoral students may be enrolled in high numbers, offering a cheap workforce

may spend years on research that yields

only one or a few papers

now has detectable levels of HIV after more than two years of not taking antiretroviral therapy without evidence of virus

"Scientifically, this development reminds us that we still have much more to learn about the intricacies of HIV infection and where the virus hides in the body. The NIH remains committed to moving forward with research on a cure for HIV infection."

NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

The researchers planning the clinical trial will now need to take this new development into account

The child was born prematurely in a Mississippi clinic in 2010 to an HIV-infected mother who did not receive antiretroviral medication during pregnancy and was not diagnosed with HIV infection until the time of delivery

Because of the high risk of HIV exposure, the infant was started at 30 hours of age on liquid, triple-drug antiretroviral treatment.

Testing confirmed within several days that the baby had been infected with HIV. At two weeks of age, the baby was discharged from the hospital and continued on liquid antiretroviral therapy

The baby continued on antiretroviral treatment until 18 months of age, when the child was lost to follow up and no longer received treatment

when the child was again seen by medical staff five months later, blood samples revealed undetectable HIV levels (less than 20 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood (copies/mL)) and no HIV-specific antibodies

The child continued to do well in the absence of antiretroviral medicines and was free of detectable HIV for more than two years

Repeat viral load blood testing performed 72 hours later confirmed this finding

Additionally, the child had decreased levels of

a key component of a normal immune system, and the presence of HIV antibodies

Based on these results, the child was again started on antiretroviral therapy

To date, the child is tolerating the medication with no side effects and treatment is decreasing virus levels

Genetic sequencing of the virus indicated that the child's HIV infection was the same strain acquired from the mother

In light of the new findings, researchers must now work to better understand what enabled the child to remain off treatment for more than two years without detectable virus or measurable immunologic response

what might be done to extend the period of sustained HIV remission in the absence of antiretroviral therapy

"Typically, when treatment is stopped, HIV levels rebound within weeks, not years."

"The prolonged lack of viral rebound, in the absence of HIV-specific immune responses, suggests that the very early therapy not only kept this child clinically well, but also restricted the number of cells harboring HIV infection," said Katherine Luzuriaga, M.D., professor of molecular medicine, pediatrics and medicine at the University of Massachusetts

The case

indicates that early antiretroviral treatment in this HIV-infected infant did not completely eliminate the reservoir of HIV-infected cells that was established upon infection

may have considerably limited its development and averted the need for antiretroviral medication over a considerable period

during a routine clinical care visit earlier this month, the child, now nearly 4 years of age, was found to have detectable HIV levels in the blood