Much like cities organize contingency plans for emergencies, chronic infectious diseases like HIV form reservoirs that ensure their survival in adverse conditions. But these reservoirs -- small populations of viruses or bacteria of a specific type that persist despite attack by the immune system or drug treatment--are not always well understood. Now, researchers believe they have begun to decode how a reservoir of infection can persist in HIV-positive populations.

Source: HIV havens: Researchers find new clues about how HIV reservoirs may form