Abstract

AIDS: The results of small, rapid clinical trials, reported in January in newspapers and journals, have led to the discovery that the "turnover" of new virus in the body is far more rapid than previously believed. The findings suggest that the immune system might have the ability to recover if HIV reproduction could be stopped for a longer time, although the virus would not be eradicated. The new understanding of how HIV behaves in the body was made possible by new antiviral drugs and by the new blood test which measures plasma HIV RNA. The work validates the use of small, rapid trials, and emphasizes the problem of HIV developing resistance to drugs. The researchers emphasized the need to use combination treatments because the more drugs that are added, the less likely the virion will be resistant to all of them. The most important unanswered question about HIV disease may be how it progresses from early, asymptomatic infection to late-stage illness. The fear is that researchers will assume that the new understanding of HIV explains this and research could be prematurely downgraded due to the rush of enthusiasm from these new findings. The pro's and con's of the interpretations of the findings and suggestions of what should be studied are discussed. The impact of these findings will be on the strategy of research and development of new AIDS treatments.