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innerbrat, I feel a need to weigh in on this article entitled 'Researchers Knock Out HIV' with the perspective of someone who might not be a virologist or a researcher, but who knows her stuff when it comes to HIV/AIDS in general (and certainly knows her way around a Lancet paper).
So speaking as a biologist, but still far from an expert...this is familiar ground. The published results of this particular cohort study are new (because obviously, like any cohort study, it takes a long time for meaningful data to be collected over time) but the only thing it is actually proving is that one specific aim of combined antiretroviral therapy - the normalisation or near-normalisation of CD4+ T-cell count, which IS very important - can be realised provided the course of treatment is adhered to for a long time.
What this means: if you can afford the drug cocktail and you can tolerate the side effects, you probably won't die as soon as those who can't.
This is not new. This is not a cure. It's a promising result and it means that our treatments are working, but...I do wish the media wouldn't leap upon newly published results as though they're a breakthrough that was made yesterday, and throw words like 'neutralise' and 'knock out' around. They imply absolutes and create false impressions.
Here are some true facts about HIV/AIDS: two-thirds of all people living with HIV live in the sub-Saharan region - this was 24.7 million people in 2006. Less than a quarter of them have access to ANY kind of antiretroviral treatment, let alone the highly complex and extensive treatment courses that comprise successful cART. Less than one in five people worldwide at risk of becoming infected with HIV have access to basic prevention services.
(For those just tuning in, um, hi, welcome to Fahye's career of choice?)
innerbrat, I feel a need to weigh in on this article entitled 'Researchers Knock Out HIV' with the perspective of someone who might not be a virologist or a researcher, but who knows her stuff when it comes to HIV/AIDS in general (and certainly knows her way around a Lancet paper).So speaking as a biologist, but still far from an expert...this is familiar ground. The published results of this particular cohort study are new (because obviously, like any cohort study, it takes a long time for meaningful data to be collected over time) but the only thing it is actually proving is that one specific aim of combined antiretroviral therapy - the normalisation or near-normalisation of CD4+ T-cell count, which IS very important - can be realised provided the course of treatment is adhered to for a long time.
What this means: if you can afford the drug cocktail and you can tolerate the side effects, you probably won't die as soon as those who can't.
This is not new. This is not a cure. It's a promising result and it means that our treatments are working, but...I do wish the media wouldn't leap upon newly published results as though they're a breakthrough that was made yesterday, and throw words like 'neutralise' and 'knock out' around. They imply absolutes and create false impressions.
Here are some true facts about HIV/AIDS: two-thirds of all people living with HIV live in the sub-Saharan region - this was 24.7 million people in 2006. Less than a quarter of them have access to ANY kind of antiretroviral treatment, let alone the highly complex and extensive treatment courses that comprise successful cART. Less than one in five people worldwide at risk of becoming infected with HIV have access to basic prevention services.
(For those just tuning in, um, hi, welcome to Fahye's career of choice?)
