Adults 'cured' after HIV baby

Following the apparent cure of the HIV baby (see previous post) reports suggest that therapy similar to that of the baby works on adults too. 70 people that were treated with three antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) a lot earlier than people are normally treated: 35 days-10 weeks after infection. The majority relapsed after their treatment was halted, but 14 of them, 10 out of that being male, were able to stay off the ARVs without relapsing like the others. These 14 still have HIV traces in their blood but only levels that their immune system can keep at bay.
This is not total eradication of the virus, but it does enable them to live a a substantial amount of time without drugs (no ARVs etc). It has been made clear tat early treatment is very important- however, this rapid treatment doesn't work for everyone (56 of the 70 relapsed). The 14 adults were also confirmed not to be 'super controllers' (population, 1%, of people with a natural resistance to HIV)- and researchers are now attempting to identify why it only works on some people, which may expand the future for further functional cures.
The senior advisor on HIV/AIDS strategy at the WHO (World Health Organisation) says 'The big challenge is identifying people early in their infection' and also pointing out that the stigma and potential discrimination means that people are reluctant to have a test for it.

Other researchers are working on a way to eradicate HIV from the body completely- by using drugs that  'flushes out' dormant HIV out of its hiding places in the host. This was supported by the trebled levels of dormant HIV in the blood following taking the drug (vorinostat) as this shows that the virus is being removed from cells. And now, an attempt to find a way to kill the HIV which would now be in the blood after use of drugs flushing it out- and so getting rid of the virus from the body completely. Theoretically, HIV can be 'moped up' if it is released form the plasma in cells (if HIV is unlocked from resisting CD4 memory T-cells).

Vorinostat is histone deacetylase (HDAC)  inhibitor- used for treatment of cutaneous lymphoma (brand name- Zolinza). HDAC is an enzyme that contributes to maintaining latency of the genetic material, that is integrated in human cells, of HIV. The idea is to break this HIV latency, thus 'turning on' the HIV genes and the virus to replicate. Vironostat shows the ability to cause mutations (mutangenisis, AMES positive)), which could potentially leads to cancer- although, there were no such events in the study into the drug. This study is hoped to chow that HDAC drugs can be effective and that other less toxic (not AMES positive) can be used to move the 'cure' forward.