A nine-year-old South African child with HIV has surprised experts by showing no symptoms of the virus having had just one year of treatment followed by eight and a half years with no drugs.

This has given hope to the 37 million people worldwide infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

However, the case is extremely rare and does not suggest a simple path to a cure, experts say.

HIV patients typically have to keep taking antiretroviral (ART) drugs permanently to stop the virus from developing into AIDS. However, this child has no signs of the disease.