Hiv why cant it be cured

The mechanism of the virus in the body makes it difficult to cure because HIV invades and then commandeers the T cells responsible for defeating it. This reduces the number of functional T cells and ruptures their cellular membrane in the process. HIV also mutates at one of the fastest rates known to science, so far making it impossible to treat with a single drug.

The virus can also hide, latent, in lymphoid tissues and other locations where it escapes detection. The lack of agreement on the approach to take also impedes the discovery of an HIV cure because it results in the lack of a global effort focused on a single goal. Whether eradication is enough or a cure is necessary impacts where funds and efforts are spent.

Another impediment to progress toward an HIV cure that is related to a disagreement in approach is the question of what constitutes a cure. Is it a sterilized cure in which no trace of the disease remains? Is it a functional cure in which the disease is present but not capable of progressing to AIDS, or being transmitted? Is remission through the use of ARTs a cure if it calls for the daily medication with a cocktail of toxic drugs?

Because each of these options will require funding and talent, the pursuit of several will diminish the resources for each. For AGT, the goal is clear. AGT sponsored this article to highlight the importance of continuing HIV cure research until a cure is found. Within a few months after the initial infection, viral loads are generally low and can remain at low levels for years, even without treatment. Over time, however, the amount of virus increases, and the levels of helper T cells decrease.

When the T cell count drops low enough, individuals are much more prone to opportunistic infection. Helper T cells play a critical role in our immune systems, helping us fend off infections from bacteria and fungi. There are numerous classes of drugs that target different aspects of the HIV life cycle, and therapy always involves taking two or more classes of drugs in combination. Other drugs prevent the virus from maturing, or block viral fusion, causing HIV to be unable to infect new cells in the body.

Antiretroviral therapy is highly effective at managing the levels of HIV. It was one of the medical miracles of the 20th century. HIV causes AIDS by infecting and killing a type of cell called a helper T cell, essential for a proper immune response to infectious agents. The slow but inexorable loss of these cells leaves the body unable to defend itself against a long list of bacteria and viruses, and it is infection with these opportunistic agents that eventually kills the patient.

The viral DNA is then used by the host cell as if it were its own genes, and in turn directs the cell to make viral RNA ribonucleic acid , and more virus. In an untreated HIV infection, about a billion helper T cells are infected by the virus and killed every day, with an average time from infection to cell death of one to two days. A small percentage of infected helper T cells do not die right away, but instead go into a resting, or latent, state in which the viral DNA they carry—now called a provirus—is silent and no new RNA or virus is made.

Antiretroviral drugs in combination—if used correctly—completely prevent the infection of new cells, but have no effect on the cells that are already infected and that are carrying latent proviruses. Though latent reservoirs are still an obstacle to them, broadly neutralizing antibodies show a lot of promise when it comes to keeping the virus at bay — in particular, ensuring that the infection never progresses to AIDS and that its transmission risk is low.

Some researchers are examining how they can be used both to treat and prevent HIV, while others are looking at how a combination of neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies may even have some effectiveness against latent cells. Researchers have been searching for an HIV vaccine for decades. The main barrier has been finding one with a high enough effectiveness rate for pharmaceutical companies to want to invest, and the FDA to approve.

Right now, a lot of vaccine trials turn up with something like 40 percent effectiveness, McNamara says. It was really ugly. And it took a lot of effort by a lot of people — including Anthony Fauci — to rectify a lot of those wrongs.

As for how close we are to a cure for HIV? How broadly and quickly we can deploy that cure is another question — having a cure, or having a vaccine, is different from implementing it worldwide. Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine in , the last smallpox outbreak in the U. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine in , there have been no cases in the U. How fast will HIV disappear once we have a vaccine?