What is a common misconception about antiretroviral therapy?

A common misconception about antiretroviral therapy is that it can cure HIV completely. This belief arises from the misunderstanding of how antiretrovirals work and the nature of the HIV virus itself. Antiretroviral therapy is designed to suppress the viral load to undetectable levels, which significantly improves the health and longevity of individuals living with HIV, but it does not eradicate the virus from the body.

HIV integrates itself into the host's genome, leading to reservoirs of the virus that can remain even when treatment is effective in controlling the viral load. Therefore, an individual on antiretroviral therapy will need to remain on treatment for life to maintain viral suppression and prevent disease progression and transmission.

This distinguishes antiretroviral therapy from curative treatments that might target the virus more aggressively or eliminate it entirely, which currently do not exist for the majority of those living with HIV. Other statements, while related to the therapy’s administration and requirements, do not reflect misconceptions about the core purpose and effects of the therapy itself.