HIV Cure is not that easy to find as it had to get through a lot of trials and have to be approved from various institutions before releasing it in the market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the main authority that tests out any new cure for HIV/AIDS and approves or rejects it after several tests.
I meant to tweet about it but a company has just submitted what they believe is the cure to HIV/AIDS to the FDA 😱 this is huge
— IssaSnackBruv (@KhailMajor) November 9, 2019
On November 7, 2002, the FDA approved the first rapid HIV diagnostic test kit for use in the United States. The test provided results with 99.6% accuracy in as little as 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/lUAUJNOSEk
— AlliesPGH (@AlliesPGH) November 7, 2019
FDA has recently authorized HIV Type-1 drug resistance mutations which used the next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Sentosa SQ HIV Genotyping Assay has been given a green light by the FDA to market its assay in the United States. It could be a first step in the direction for finding the HIV/AIDS cure as the diagnostic process is done, treatment can be developed after that.
Antiretroviral Therapy is Not a Cure for HIV
HIV when untreated can take the form of AIDS and the condition becomes severe as the patient’s immunity system breaks down and they are prone to other diseases easily. The current solution for HIV infected patients is antiretroviral therapy (ART) which uses a combination of drugs to be taken daily for suppressing the virus.
Although ART prolongs human life, there are various forms of the virus that have started mutations and are unaffected by it. Also, as soon as ART treatment is stopped, the virus reservoir starts forming again. There are millions of people infected with HIV/AIDS and not everyone can even afford ART, it is not a cure and hence the new testing method approved by the FDA can make it more effective.
HIV/AIDS Cure based on Diagnostics
FDA is aware of the infections which can resist the drugs and is focusing on providing safe and effective ways from fighting with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening infections. The Sentosa SQ HIV-1 Genotyping Assay detects any kind of mutations in the genes of HIV infected patients that have started taking the ART treatment.
If the diagnostic is successful and the vaccines or medicines can adapt to the virus mutations, a permanent cure for HIV/AIDS can also be found out very soon. The FDA is an agency that comes under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is doing the best efforts for curing HIV and AIDS.