Combinations of these drugs have transformed HIV infection from a near universally fatal disease to one that with proper management can usually be successfully treated for decades.

The condition was previously thought to be universally fatal, but aggressive treatment by stabilizing the mother with intravenous fluids and blood products in anticipation of early delivery has improved prognosis.

In this form, it's a universally fatal disease with only one cure - a new liver.

Of these, Dr. Bowman said, all but 8 have died of their underlying disease, a type of childhood brain cancer that is universally fatal.

Before antibiotic treatment was used, the condition was universally fatal.

Before the introduction of antibiotic treatment Whipple's disease was universally fatal.

Prior to 1970, being diagnosed with cancer during childhood was considered a universally fatal disease.

All known prion diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue and all are currently untreatable and universally fatal.

What has seemed a linear and universally fatal progression now appears to be a chronic condition that can be kept in check.

About 30 years ago, leukemia was universally fatal.