I mentioned earlier that 3 of our babies tested positive for HIV. I was wrong; four of our babies tested positive. One baby, Rahma, is definitely positive and has started antiretroviral medications (ARVs). She will take them for life. The others recently had a blood test to determine if they need ARVs.
The other volunteers and I drove into Usa River today to find out the results from the last blood test. The doctor, an Italian man, gave us some good news. He said that the antibody count for three of our babies is actually very low. Often a baby whose mother is HIV+ has antibodies in its blood for about a year after birth, even if they don't have the virus. Since the count is so low, the doctor thinks that those 3 babies don't actually have the virus! One child, Bahati, is getting tested again a week from today. If the results are negative, then he is perfectly healthy and HIV-free! If the results are positive, then we have to wait another 4-6 months and test him again. The other 2 babies are only about 6 months old. We have to wait until they are a year old to do more testing.
I'm so excited, and so hopeful! Please pray for these precious babies.
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