My post and the GP were about HSV (herpes simplex virus), not HIV. HSV is extremely prevalent, so a simple randomized controlled trial in children should do the trick. (And there isn’t even any substantial ethical issue with participants potentially taking addition risks — kids don’t do anything to avoid HSV in the first place.)
But the specific discussion is about a potential cure. Finding a few hundred HSV patients who don’t take any antivirals when they don’t have any lesions should be very, very easy as trials go — something like half the population is seropositive, many of those have occasional symptoms, and very few of those are taking antivirals to prevent symptoms.
But the specific discussion is about a potential cure. Finding a few hundred HSV patients who don’t take any antivirals when they don’t have any lesions should be very, very easy as trials go — something like half the population is seropositive, many of those have occasional symptoms, and very few of those are taking antivirals to prevent symptoms.