AIDS Conference: Hope For a Cure and Treatment Guideline Changes

3. Surprise Benefits of Antiretrovirals
Cost is likewise a consideration with early initiation of treatment, as is the need to stay on the drugs faithfully; breaks in treatment can lead to the development of drug-resistant strains of HIV. But one study presented at the conference documented a group of patients in France who were treated early, went off their meds, and have seen the level of HIV in their bodies remain low. These results provide still more reason that “antiretroviral treatment should be started very early after infection,” said Charline Bacchus, lead researcher at the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis.