Thus far, no one with HIV infection has been cured, despite the availability of potent antiretroviral agents. Nevertheless, cure of infection is the ultimate goal of any antimicrobial therapy. Although eradication of HIV infection is currently regarded as unattainable, advances in the understanding of HIV pathogenesis have led many to reevaluate the obstacles to the clearance of virus.

Eradication of HIV seems to be prevented by several factors, chief among them the presence of a stable population of long-lived quiescently infected CD4+ T cells. 1–5 Suppression of plasma viremia is achieved with the use of HAART; however, cessation of therapy uniformly results in the return of virus, thought to be primarily derived from these persistently infected resting memory T cells. 6–12 The generation of latency occurs after HIV infection of a transcriptionally active cell, which predominantly results in productive infection and cell death. If cellular transcription ceases before either viral or immunologic cytopathic effects, however, the virus can become dor-