How often does treatment of primary HIV lead to post-treatment control?

Post-treatment control of viraemia after discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy begun during primary HIV-1 infection is considered a potential path toward a sustained remission of infection.

Subjects enrolled in an observational primary infection cohort who received at least 11 months of highly active antiretroviral therapy beginning within the first 12 weeks of HIV-1 infection and who subsequently discontinued therapy were evaluated for post-treatment control.

Within a cohort of 389 subjects with primary HIV-1 infection enrolled over 22 years, only 22 met criteria for evaluation of post-treatment control. Among these subjects, 21 (95%) had loss of viral control (HIV-1 RNA>500 copies/ml) within 18 months after treatment discontinuation, and only 1 (4.5%, 95% CI 0.32, 18.9) controlled viral load to levels <500 copies/ml for at least 24 months. The median time to virological failure was 2.17 (IQR 1.18-3.39) months.

Our data suggest a low likelihood of post-treatment control even when highly active antiretroviral therapy is started within 12 weeks of HIV-1 infection.