The Hot Papers article 1 of Dec. 6 on the failure of various combinations of antibiotics to eradicate latent HIV gives the false impression that AIDS researchers were not aware of this possibility. Doctors learn at medical school the fundamental rule that antibiotics should be given for short periods in adequate doses to destroy all pathogens and prevent the emergence of resistant strains. As soon as it was appreciated that AIDS was caused by a retrovirus, it was predictable that antibiotics alone would be unlikely to work.
Retroviruses usually have a latency option and are highly prone to mutate.
To rid an area of grouse neither alone suffices. The combination is lethal. Unfortunately, our research systems do not operate this way. 3,4 Antibiotics were emphasized rather than latency-disrupting drugs. When AZT did not come up to expectations and resistant strains emerged, the call came for bigger and better guns, rather than for beaters.