Shutterstock
A team of UK scientists may be very close to discovering a cure for HIV, according to a report from British newspaper The Telegraph.
For one 44-year-old man, the experimental two-stage therapy used in the 50-person study has apparently caused all traces of the disease to vanish. Currently, the disease is undetectable in the man’s blood stream, and if it remains that way he will become the first person in the world to ever be cured.
Mark Samuels, manager director of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure applauded the potentially groundbreaking study:
“This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV. We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and it’s still early days but the progress has been remarkable.”
The experimental therapy being tested in this UK study works in two stages. In the first stage, a vaccine recgonizes the HIV-infected cells so it can get rid of them. Then, a new drug called Vorinostat activates dormant T-cells so they can be recognized by the immune system. This particular therapy is revolutionary because it spots infected dormant cells and alerts the immune system so that it can respond.
