Positive news for abandoned ‘AIDS’ baby

Little two-year-old Xiaomei beams with happiness as she plays with a teacher at a children's institute. But life for Xiaomei, which means little beauty, has not always been so lovely. At just 15 days old she was abandoned by her parents who falsely believed their baby girl was HIV positive. In the first few months of her life she was raised alone at the Children's Welfare Institute in Weifang, East China's Shandong province due to fears she might infect other children, but teachers worried this could be mentally harmful and eventually relented. However, they still continued to wash her clothes and dishes separately, wrongly believing the virus could be transferred this way. Then in 2011, three separate tests conducted in March, August and November by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Weifang revealed she was not infected with the HIV virus. It is not known if or how the initial diagnosis was made or whether her parents have been made aware of the test results. But that didn't see to bother Xiaomei too much as she played with her teacher on Nov, 28, 2011. [Photo/CFP]

Xiaomei learns to walk with other kids at the Children's Welfare Institute in Weifang, East China's Shandong province on April 28, 2011. [Photo/CFP]