AN EXPERIMENTAL AIDS VACCINE THAT WILL KILL MORE LINGERING HIV IN THE BODY BEING DEVELOPED

An experimental AIDS vaccine is being developed to kill more lingering HIV in the body than is possible with current antiviral treatments.
Antiviral drugs stop ongoing viral replication and block new infections but do not eradicate HIV from the infected individual so explained Ivan D'orso, an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Texas South Western Medcal Centre in Dallas.
Instead of vanishing, the virus 'hides in reservoirs' within the body such as bone marrow or brain.
Then enters the experimental vaccine, which targets a protein called Tat that is produced by AIDS virus. Without Tat, the virus does not efficiently replicate, D'orso said.
In the new study, researchers gave the vaccine to 168 HIV positive patients 3 to 5 times monthly for 48 weeks or nearly three years. The Italian team found signs that the vaccine blocked replenishment of the virus lurking in the body.