A Therapeutic HIV Vaccine within Five Years?

While the list of strong and effective cocktails to treat HIV continues to grow, and more and more discoveries are being made that dramatically – and positively – impact the lifespan of those with HIV and AIDS, the hope for a vaccine – and, especially, a vaccine that has therapeutic effects – has remained just that:  a hope.

Well, perhaps not for too much longer.

Luc Montagnier (pictured), who is this year’s winner (as part of a team) of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in discovering HIV, has announced that he believes it is “a matter of four or five years” until a therapeutic HIV vaccine is developed.

A therapeutic vaccine would be used on people already infected with HIV, while a preventative vaccine would be used on people not yet infected.  A therapeutic vaccine would be a tremendous step forward in treating people already infected, with the possibility of reversing the infection itself, at least to a great degree.

Dr. Montagnier has announced no specific studies or vaccine trials in this area.  Rather, these comments seem to reflect a broader view of what the state of research and clinical facts are in the field of HIV/AIDS treatment and research.

In the meantime, people with HIV will continue to look to the current – and ever growing realm – of treatments for life-sustaining help.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Comments

[Malkar]

Brandon seems very scientifically literate. I am also aware of the mutant ccr5, and laboratory innovations to alter the basic genetic code of HIV. These marvelous innovations have been ignored or blatantly elusive to most of the intellectual elite for many years.

[Malkar]

Brandon seems very scientifically literate. I am also aware of the mutant ccr5, and laboratory innovations to alter the basic genetic code of HIV. These marvelous innovations have been ignored or blatantly elusive to most of the intellectual elite for many years.

[ri ki]

seems like y'all got told off bob. oh well.

[Gordon Thomas]

How many more times is someone going to come out and say."in 5 years we will have a vaccine for AIDS. Here in Australia when the virus first hit in the early 80's our government said that it would take 5 years to find a cure, then 5 years passed, no cure. Then 10 years, 15 years and 20 years and here we are again being told the same thing. It's about time the pharmacitical companies came clean and give us all the truth on just what cures are available instead of hold back and making squillions on the drugs that do half the job. Gordon Thomas
Sydney Australia

[JOHN PAUL]

GREAT NEWS for those currently infected and those who might be so in the future! I am blessed to be negative and have dated Hiv PEOPLE and this would definetly open more people to continue loving one another more freely but with caustion because it shouldn't mean that now people can have sex withour protection regardless!In the meantime, abstenence or safe sex is still the best form of prevention! I look forward to the new advances in health issues for us all! :)

[snookiums]

Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! All this bickerin' and from such brainiac ed-oo-macated brainiacs bilogists & virologists & chemists oh my!! well u know.. sweeties..if u were soo smart u would know the chemical equations to neutralize the HIV variant that starts the aids process & the additional toxicity 'causing contributors..but seein' as how most of u are practicin' junk science...& since most people are pigs when it comes to sex anyways..I say,u get what u deserve..so..up to tempo for the stupid MF'ers and down those toxo pills..for everything...& if u believe the hype..I got a Brooklyn Bridge I wanna sell u

[BJ]

A cure for HIV and AIDS is on the horizon, but there is obviously no hope for bitter sarcastic pessimistic old QUEENS!

How could you possibly wish that they didn't find a cure and vaccine!? There comes a time to get off of your THRONE.

Sex is Sex, people are gonna have it and enjoy it, at least now they wont have to die from it.

[irontool_555]

Guys, there's gotta be hope. I was infected in 1985 when there was practcally only a momotherapy available. I had linfoma in 1994 and then I started the cocktail. Life changed for me since that moment for I have not had any kind of diseases whatsoever again. It's been 23 years, and life goes on though it's not easy to be poz I admit it. My cd4 count is above 1045 and my viral load is undetectable since I started the treatment. It is important, however, to take proper care of yourself. This implies using protection all the time in order to avoid a REINFECTION with a wilder strain of hiv or with a strain that is already resistant to the meds you are currentlt taking. God has taught me to have faith and hope, and a proof of this is that medicine has evolved from cero treatment for hiv in 1980 to a diverse courses of antiretroviral combinations which have proved to be very effective. I have no doubt that in 5 years from now there will be a vaccine to cure hiv. I live in Mexico, and I would like to correspond with other long term survivors and or ant hiv infected guys. I am currently planning on starting out a relationship with another hiv poz person because having one with 0neg is practically imposible. One thing I would like to mention here is that CM4 which is a form of alternative medicine helped me a lot to increase my cd4 count in a very short period of time. anyone interested in corresponding with me please write to prowler5555@hotmail.com

[Brandon]

gee, you think most gay people are whores now. wait til this comes out.

[Eddie Blessing]

If a vacine comes in the next decade and it is even partially effective, and does not help those infected for decades it will at least help ease some of the stigma and fear towards people with HIV. The medical community does discriminate and people with this are often treaded as Leapers

[Daily Dose of Fantasy]

These women will be labelled man haters among other insults, and yet when a woman tells the world about how she is also ‘hard-wired’ to act on her needs, she is at best disregarded at worst abused.