An amazing discovery was made last year when scientists concluded that a baby born with HIV had been effectively cured through aggressive treatment given hours after her birth.

Now doctors have found another child that has been cured by the same method.

The new baby, an unidentified girl born in Long Beach, Calif., was treated for the virus shortly after being delivered. Doctors administered a high dosage of antiviral drugs. Eleven days later no trace of the virus could be found. Now, at nine months of age, the baby still remains virus free.

"This could lead to major changes, for two reasons," said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, executive director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as reported by The New York Times. "Both for the welfare of the child, and because it is a huge proof of concept that you can cure someone if you can treat them early enough."

The original child, dubbed the "Mississippi baby", was born with virus after her mother failed to get prenatal care during her pregnancy. Doctors gave her a powerful mixture of drugs in hopes of combating the virus, but she was found to be infected a couple of days later.

The child continued to take treatments for 15 months, at which point the mother stopped giving them to her. Soon after, researchers found that the girl had been "functionally cured", meaning the virus was undetectable and treatment was deemed uneccessary.

Still, scientists are hesitant to take both children off the treatment for ethical reasons. It is unknown at this point if the virus could return.

"Taking kids off antiretroviral therapy intentionally is not standard of care," said virologist Dr. Deborah Persaud, who has studied both children. "At this time, there is no plan to stop treatment."

Still, the findings could have profound ramifications for the fight against AIDS disease. A leading researcher says that there may be similar cases in Canada and South Africa. A clinical trial in which infected infants will undergo the new treatment is being planned as well.