Fast HIV treatment a step towards ‘functional cure’

A small, select group of people infected with HIV showed extraordinary immune responses that were able to hold the virus in check after early and aggressive treatment.

Researchers in France have closely followed 14 patients who were treated within 10 weeks of infection with combination antiretroviral drugs (cART) for three years on average and then stopped therapy.

“Our results show that early and prolonged cART may allow some individuals with a rather unfavourable background to achieve long-term infection control and may have important implications in the search for a functional HIV cure,” Asier Sáez-Cirión of Institut Pasteur in Paris and his co-authors concluded in this week’s issue of the journal PLoS Pathogens, published by the Public Library of Science.

Those who are functionally cured still have residual virus that is not completely eliminated but it doesn’t seem to impact their well-being.

The French researchers found no signs of sickness or growth of the virus in the patients, who are known as the Visconti cohort.

They suspect that the very early treatment may have limited the chance for viral reservoirs to form, which is why the vast majority of people infected with HIV need to continue treatment.

Read More

Scroll to Top

During the Canada Post strike announced September 25, 2025, the following measures will be undertaken to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory has transitioned to private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. Results required urgently can be faxed upon request. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy has transitioned to private courier for delivery of medications. We recommend requesting medication at least 2 weeks in advance in case of delivery delays, particularly to rural/remote parts of BC. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

During the Canada Post strike, we recommend that documents be faxed or couriered to our sites, versus utilization of regular mail service

The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below