title: Achieving a cure for HIV infection: do we have reasons to be optimistic?
abstract: The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996 has transformed a lethal disease to a chronic pathology with a dramatic decrease in mortality and morbidity of AIDS-related symptoms in infected patients. However, HAART has not allowed the cure of HIV infection, the main obstacle to HIV eradication being the existence of quiescent reservoirs. Several other problems have been encountered with HAART (such as side effects, adherence to medication, emergence of resistance and cost of treatment), and these motivate the search for new ways to treat these patients. Recent advances hold promise for the ultimate cure of HIV infection, which is the topic of this review. Besides these new strategies aiming to eliminate the virus, efforts must be made to improve current HAART. We believe that the cure of HIV infection will not be attained in the short term and that a strategy based on purging the reservoirs has to be associated with an aggressive HAART strategy.
authors.affiliation: University of Strasbourg, EA4438, Institute of Parasitology, Strasbourg,  France.
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Le Douce
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Janossy
authors.forename: Houda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hallay
authors.forename: Sultan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riclet
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rohr
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000379:methods*; D006678:HIV / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents