[shevy-java]

> “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.

[TheAceOfHearts]

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.

[2muchcoffeeman]

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.

[mlyle]

It is also worth noting that others were helped, too, just not to the extraordinary level of a functional cure.

[energy123]

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.