Editing Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS (section)

===Cure===
{{see also|HIV/AIDS#Management|Management of HIV/AIDS}}
[[File:Stribild bottle Dutch labeling.jpg|thumb|A bottle containing Stribild tablets (medication used to treat HIV). Stribild is a combination drug containing [[tenofovir disoproxil fumarate]], [[emtricitabine]], [[elvitegravir]] and [[cobicistat]].]]
[[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.{{cn|date=January 2021}}

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.<ref name ="Becker, 2002">{{cite journal | last1 = Becker | first1 = S. | last2 = Dezii | first2 = C.M. | last3 = Burtcel | first3 = B. | last4 = Kawabata | first4 = H. | last5 = Hodder | first5 = S. | year = 2002 | title = Young HIV-infected adults are at greater risk for medication nonadherence | journal = Medscape General Medicine | volume = 4 | issue = 3| page = 21 | pmid = 12466764 }}</ref> [[Antiretroviral treatment]] known as [[post-exposure prophylaxis]] reduces the chance of acquiring an HIV infection when administered within 72 hours of exposure to HIV.<ref name=Fan>{{Cite book |year=2005 |title=AIDS: science and society |editor=Fan, H. |editor2=Conner, R.F. |editor3=Villarreal, L.P. |edition=4th |publisher=Jones and Bartlett Publishers |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-7637-0086-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/aidssciencesocie00fanh }}</ref> 
However, an overwhelming body of clinical evidence has demonstrated the U=U rule - if someone's viral load is undetectable (<200 viral copies per mL) they are untransmissible. Essentially this means if a person living with HIV is well controlled on medications with a viral load less than 200, they cannot transmit HIV to their partners via sexual contact. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/treatment-prevention | title=HIV Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U), or Treatment as Prevention &#124; NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | date=21 May 2019 }}</ref>
The landmark study that first established this was the HPTN052 study, which looked at over 2000 couples over 10 years, where one partner was HIV positive, and the other partner was HIV negative. <ref>{{cite journal | pmid=28385131 | pmc=5633001 | doi=10.1080/15284336.2017.1311056 | title=Virologic outcomes in early antiretroviral treatment: HPTN 052 | journal=HIV Clinical Trials | date=May 2017 | volume=18 | issue=3 | pages=100–109 | last1=Eshleman | first1=Susan H. | last2=Wilson | first2=Ethan A. | last3=Zhang | first3=Xinyi C. | last4=Ou | first4=San-San | last5=Piwowar-Manning | first5=Estelle | last6=Eron | first6=Joseph J. | last7=McCauley | first7=Marybeth | last8=Gamble | first8=Theresa | last9=Gallant | first9=Joel E. | last10=Hosseinipour | first10=Mina C. | last11=Kumarasamy | first11=Nagalingeswaran | last12=Hakim | first12=James G. | last13=Kalonga | first13=Ben | last14=Pilotto | first14=Jose H. | last15=Grinsztejn | first15=Beatriz | last16=Godbole | first16=Sheela V. | last17=Chotirosniramit | first17=Nuntisa | last18=Santos | first18=Breno Riegel | last19=Shava | first19=Emily | last20=Mills | first20=Lisa A. | last21=Panchia | first21=Ravindre | last22=Mwelase | first22=Noluthando | last23=Mayer | first23=Kenneth H. | last24=Chen | first24=Ying Q. | last25=Cohen | first25=Myron S. | last26=Fogel | first26=Jessica M. }}</ref>