page_title: Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS
section_title: Cure
hierarchical_section_title: Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS / Treatment / Cure
caption_attribution_description: English: A bottle containing Stribild tablets (medication used to treat HIV). Stribild is a combination drug containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, emtricitabine, elvitegravir and cobicistat. Some tablets on the side.
context_page_description: The spread of HIV/AIDS has affected millions of people worldwide; AIDS is considered a pandemic. The World Health Organization estimated that in 2016 there were 36.7 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS, with 1.8 million new HIV infections per year and 1 million deaths due to AIDS. Misconceptions about HIV and AIDS arise from several different sources, from simple ignorance and misunderstandings about scientific knowledge regarding HIV infections and the cause of AIDS to misinformation propagated by individuals and groups with ideological stances that deny a causative relationship between HIV infection and the development of AIDS. Below is a list and explanations of some common misconceptions and their rebuttals.
context_section_description: Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) in many cases allows the stabilization of the patient's symptoms, partial recovery of CD4+ T-cell levels, and reduction in viremia (the level of virus in the blood) to low or near-undetectable levels. Disease-specific drugs can also alleviate symptoms of AIDS and even cure specific AIDS-defining conditions in some cases. Medical treatment can reduce HIV infection in many cases to a survivable chronic condition. However, these advances do not constitute a cure, since current treatment regimens cannot eradicate latent HIV from the body.
  High levels of HIV-1 (often HAART-resistant) develop if treatment is stopped, if compliance with treatment is inconsistent, or if the virus spontaneously develops resistance to an individual's regimen. Antiretroviral treatment known as post-exposure prophylaxis reduces the chance of acquiring an HIV infection when administered within 72 hours of exposure to HIV. These problems mean that while HIV-positive people with low viremia are less likely to infect others, the chance of transmission always exists. In addition, people on HAART may still become sick.
caption: A bottle containing Stribild tablets (medication used to treat HIV). Stribild is a combination drug containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, emtricitabine, elvitegravir and cobicistat.
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