New HIV vaccine could expose latent virus and kill it!
Antiretroviral therapy may soon be obsolete, as scientists have successfully used immune cells to kick the dormant form of HIV out of its hiding place and destroy it. The findings may soon lead to an HIV vaccine.
Antiretroviral therapy can keep HIV in check so well that the virus is near-undetectable in the blood. However, HIV continues to “live” in latent form, so people with it must keep taking the medications to prevent it from flaring up.
Antiretroviral therapy can have a host of side effects. These may include gastrointestinal problems, cardiovascular problems, insulin resistance, and bleeding events, as well as effects on bone density, liver health, and neurological and psychiatric health.
So, the search for an HIV cure is ongoing. Now, new research may have found a way to “drag” the virus out of its hiding place and neutralize it. The findings may lead to a vaccine that would allow people living with HIV to stop taking antiretroviral medication every day. (Medical News Today 04/09/2019)
Senior study author Robbie Mailliard, Ph.D. — an assistant professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in Pennsylvania — and colleagues have published their findings in the journal EBioMedicine.
