This is new hope, researchers have demonstrated that taking antiviral treatment just four weeks after an HIV infection was a key element of remission.
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Taking antiretroviral treatment just four weeks after an HIV infection allows you to better control the multiplication of the virus a few years later. To achieve this result, researchers from the Pasteur Institute, the CEA, and Inserm carried out a study on monkeys, the results of which were published Thursday January 11 in the journal Nature. Some of these animals receive treatment over two years, starting shortly after infection. The other, also receiving two years of treatment, but later. It appears that taking medication in the month following infection helps optimize immune defenses, to the point of being able to do without treatment a few years later.
This study was carried out on animals but we can draw the same conclusions for humans, because these results are consistent with observations already observed in certain patients in the past. Normally, people living with HIV are required to take antiretroviral treatment for life, to prevent the virus from multiplying in the body. But doctors had already identified the particular case of certain people living with HIV, who had been able to interrupt their treatment, sometimes for 20 years, without the viral load increasing.
To explain this immune mystery, the researchers then hypothesized a link with a very early start of treatment, but it had to be demonstrated, which is what this study on monkeys has just done.
The question of screening
This discovery once again argues in favor of more rapid HIV screening. Unfortunately in practice, most people affected by HIV start their treatment several years after being infected with the virus, due to discovering their HIV status too late. Figures from Sante Publique France indicate that only a third of HIV patients discover their HIV status within six months of infection. They are therefore only a small minority who can take advantage of this good window to start treatment on time. He still has a lot of progress to make to get this message across.
