An HIV Vaccine is in the Making: One Injection Can Protect Monkeys for Almost 18 Weeks
Many scientists have tried their best in creating a way to prevent HIV infection and spreading. While there isn’t a cure for it, a new research shows that there is a way to keep infection at bay by getting a vaccine.
A study at Rockefeller University, New York, found that, after injecting monkeys with the vaccine, they got protected from the virus for at least 18 weeks. This could mean that, in the future, people could get the same protection.
Preventive Treatment and Vaccines
There are people that could be at high risk of becoming infected, such as those that have HIV-positive partners. They can take a preventive drug called PrEP before having sexual intercourse, but it’s not a long-term solution.
This is where the vaccine would come handy. However, it’s a bit tricky, as HIV is known to ‘hide’ pretty well from humans’ immune system. But the vaccine has some proteins that can make immune cells recognize some of the parts of the virus. The study results have been published in the journal Nature Medicine, and the researchers believe that their ‘groundwork’ will help to create a preventive vaccine that could be used once a year.
Even if there is no cure for HIV, medicine has developed and keeps the infection under control with antiviral treatment.
PrEP Treatment Stops 90% of HIV Transmission
The PrEP treatment we mention above is a treatment that contains two drugs called tenofovir and FTC, inside on pill. This pill is aimed at people that have not yet been infected with HIV, and they want to protect themselves from the risk. Those that have been exposed to the virus can take a post-exposure prophylaxis starting within 72 hours from the exposure, with the treatment lasting for a month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the U.S there are about 1.1 million people infected with HIV.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.
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