A baby born Mississippi born with HIV in 2010 could hold the cure for AIDS.

On Sunday a team of researchers led by Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Children's Center, announced that the child appears to be cured of the virus even after coming off HIV-fighting medication, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The child got therapy and then went off therapy, and now there's no detectable virus," Persaud said. "That's really unheard of. If people go off therapy, most of them rebound...within a few weeks."

The researchers' announcement that the Mississippi baby born with HIV was cured was made in advance of the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections being held this week in Atlanta, Ga.

"You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we've seen," Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) told The Associated Press, after reviewing the results of the study.

Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi who assisted with the birth, reportedly gave the baby stronger dosages of medication quicker than normal.

Gay allegedly cured the child of HIV by administering the three drugs Epivir, Viramune and zidovudine 30 hours after the baby's birth, according to CNN. The child was then treated with a Kaletra drug combination produced by Abbott Laboratories.

Such a drug combo costs between $15,000 and $18,000 Fauci says.

Gay proceeded with the experimental treatment after the baby's mother was diagnosed as HIV positive in labor.

"I just felt like this baby was at higher-than-normal risk, and deserved our best shot," Gray said.

According to Persaud, the quick treatment was able to cure the baby's HIV by attacking dormant cells that would normally hide out in a patient's body and rapidly reinfect them if they stop taking their medication.

"It opens up a lot of doors," Fauci said about the fact a potential HIV cure. "It makes perfect sense what happened."

An estimated 300,000 children were born with HIV in 2011.

Although the Mississippi baby with HIV being cured with preexisting medication is clearly a major advancement in AIDS research, Gay cautioned against being overly optimistic.

"We can't promise to cure babies who are infected," Gay said. "We can promise to prevent the vast majority of transmissions if the moms are tested during every pregnancy."