Significantly, there is no authenticated case of a person being cured of HIV-1 infection. This would be hard to establish, as viruses can survive even though there are too few to detect. There are, though, a sizeable number of people who carry the virus but remain free of symptoms. This finding supports that idea that vaccination should be developed as an additional counter to HIV-1, and points up an interesting trend in research. That is, the growing realization that HIV-1, although it destroys much of the immune system, does not destroy it completely except in the final stages of the disease.
Asymptomatic patients maintain a small population of cells active against the virus.
At the same time, a hardened band of viruses remains in the body, despite the onslaught of antiviral therapy.