Sep 26, 2019 2:40
AN HIV cure is a step closer after scientists found a molecular “kill switch” that stops infected cells reproducing.
Lifelong drug treatment can prevent the virus leading to Aids — but it remains dormant and can reawaken if therapy is stopped.
But now, scientists in the US believe they have made a breakthrough - discovering "one of the key switches that the HIV field has been searching for three decades to find".
When a person is diagnosed with HIV, doctors start them on antiretroviral treatment straight away.
The combination of three drugs - typically taken in one tablet - work to stop the virus replicating in the body.
By doing so, it reduces a person's viral load - the amount of HIV in the blood.
Once a person's viral load drops below a certain threshold, it is described as being undetectable - which means they cannot pass the virus on to a sexual partner, even if they have unprotected sex.
While the treatment is highly effective, it does not amount to a cure. Instead the virus does remain active - though at a very low level - in the body.
If antiretroviral therapy is stopped, these HIV reservoirs that lie dormant, can reawaken.
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