Infección por el VIH/sida: ¿El principio del fin de la primera gran pandemia contemporánea?

Recently, there have been significant advances in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus, which have increased the hopes of definitively halting its dissemination and of starting the decline of the epidemic it has caused. Transmission of the infection was drastically reduced when infected patients were given antiretroviral treatments, which boosted the diffusion of treatments to middle- and low-income countries. Global therapy coverage has doubled in recent years; meanwhile the incidence of new infections has decreased. Various curative strategies are also actively being investigated, including those aiming to induce cell resistance to the infection through gene therapy and the elimination of latent virus reservoirs. This article reviews the current situation and future developments in terms of controlling the pandemic and, eventually, curing the infection.