Comment by shevy-java
2 hours ago
> “functionally cured” > 19% of people > naturally control that virus without any further treatments
So in other words: a very minor result.
19% is not a lot.
And the term "functionally cured" when they still have the virus, is not a cure, by definition. I get that for many this may be an improvement, but my gripe is with the wording here. This is inflation of feel-goodness.
It helps to look at some figures to bring it into perspective instead of making off hand comments about how it's not a lot. Remember these are human lives!
After some searching, I found estimates ranging between 600 thousand to 1.6 million people living with Hepatitis B in the US.
If we can help 20% of those people, that means significant life improvements to somewhere between 120 thousand and 320 thousand people.
If we take the upper end, that's half the population of Wyoming.
Yes! Always run some numbers in your head. People will sometimes pick percentages or numbers in an attempt to bolster their arguments. Don’t buy it, work it out for yourself.
19% vs 15% would be "not a lot". But this is 19% vs 0%!
Quote: "233 of 1220 people who had received bepi had functional cures—both undetectable HBV DNA and surface antigen—versus zero of 614 participants in the placebo arm."
This is a HUGE deal because low virality now doesn't mean low virality in the future.