Optimal therapy for HIV infection containment and virions inhibition

Abstract

Prevention and early diagnosis are the best and most effective ways for defeating HIV. There is still no vaccine, but treatments with antiretroviral drugs are now available which, in many cases, allow the infection to become chronic. However, research has highlighted side effects of these drugs and the fact that a flare-up of the infection occurs if the therapy is stopped. In recent years, the presence of virus reserves located in various parts of the body, including the brain, has been hypothesized. The possibility of controlling the infection of healthy cells and of interrupting the proliferation of virions inside the brain has been studied, proposing optimal control strategies.