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Member Since: 9/14/2010
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14 adults 'functionally cured' of HIV
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A baby who was "functionally cured" of HIV may have some adult company.
Fourteen adults have also been "functionally cured" after they were given combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) for their HIV infection. They have been able to stop taking the treatment while still keeping their infection under control, according to a new study.
"Our results show that early and prolonged cART may allow some individuals with a rather unfavorable background to achieve long-term infection control and may have important implications in the search for a functional HIV cure," the researchers, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, wrote in the study.
MedPageToday pointed out that while the 14 adults still technically have HIV in their bodies, it's only barely detectable when using highly sensitive laboratory methods. Therefore, they are considered "functionally cured" instead of being completely rid of the virus.
The New Scientist reported that there were 70 people in the study, all of whom had been treated incredibly early for their HIV infection (5 and 10 weeks of being infected), but whose drug regimens had been interrupted for some reason:
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Most of the 70 people relapsed when their treatment was interrupted, with the virus rebounding rapidly to pre-treatment levels. But 14 of them -- four women and 10 men -- were able to stay off of ARVs without relapsing.
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The findings suggest that anywhere from 5 to 15 percent of people are able to be "functionally cured" of HIV.
"They still have HIV, it is not eradication of HIV, it is a kind of remission of the infection," Saez-Cirion told BBC News.
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