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The 14 adults have been off HIV medication for an average of seven years, and
have not experienced a relapse of the disease. Previously, these patients all
tested positive for the virus, and took HIV
medication for an
average of three years before stopping treatment.
These patients still have very low levels of HIV
in their bodies that can be detected with sensitive tests, so strictly
speaking, they are not completely cured of the disease. But they have achieved
what scientists call a "functional cure" — the virus is present at
low levels, but does not appear to cause harm. The HIV cure in a
U.S. baby, announced earlier this month, was also a functional cure.
In both the adults' and child's cases,
researchers suspect early treatment played a role in achieving the functional
cure. The 14 adults were treated within 35 days to 10 weeks of infection, which
is much sooner than doctors typically give treatment, according to New Scientist.
The baby was treated 30 hours after birth.
Early treatment may prevent the virus from
finding places to hide in the body that allow the disease to perpetuate, according to the
BBC.
However, in most HIV-infected individuals, the disease is not found until much later, so such early treatment is not possible,
the BBC reported. And even people who are diagnosed early may not benefit from
early treatment. In the new study, just 5 to 15 percent of HIV patients who received early treatment actually
achieved a functional cure.
Still, that's much higher than the percentage of individuals
who can naturally
control the HIV infection without
needing HIV medications.
These so-called "elite controllers" are estimated to be less than 1
percent of the population. The 14 adults in the new study were not elite
controllers — they didn't have the genetic factors needed to protect them from
developing disease.
"Our results show that early and prolonged HIV
treatment may allow some individuals with a rather unfavorable
[genetic] background to achieve long-term infection control, and may have
important implications in the search for a functional HIV cure,"
the researchers, from the Institute Pasteur in France, write in the March issue
of the journal PLOS Pathogens.
Right now, people who take HIV medications (called antiretroviral therapy)
are generally recommended to stay on the drugs, even if they have low levels of
the virus.
"In my practice … I would start everyone
with acute infection on antiretroviral therapy, but in general, I would just
continue that therapy and not stop," Dr. Michael Saag, of the University
of Alabama Birmingham, told MedPage
Today.
In the new study, the patients' antiretroviral
therapy was interrupted for a variety of reasons. For example, some decided
they no longer wanted to take the drugs, and others took part in a study
testing different drug schedules, according to New Scientist.
Pass it
on: Some adults who receive early HIV treatment
are functionally cured of the disease.
The Friends of AIDS
Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive
individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread
of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please
visit:
http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
