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Western Blot tests on young children are practically useless, since they test for antibodies. The child will likely have antibodies passed down by the HIV+ mother, regardless of whether the child has HIV. The test will show the antibodies, which may be mistaken for an active immune response from the child. As such, there will be a high false-positive rate ...

Doing westerns with primary tissue can be tough, especially because of the presence (sometimes at high levels) of extracellular matrix (ECM). This material can be quite resistant to homogenization and some lysis buffers. One method I have found to work is to snap-freeze the tissue in liquid nitrogen (not on dry ice or at -80°C) directly after removal ...

The one that actually makes me skeptical of the use of this is that this "cure" was primarily a massive dose of antiretrovirals used as catchup therapy because the infant's mother didn't have access to prophylactic treatments while she was pregnant and delivering. Basically, it's a cure that requires you to have access to antivirals very, very near the ...