Why is so difficult to develop a cure for the HIV virus?

Answer 1

Not only is it difficult to develop a cure for HIV but for any virus-this includes the common cold, chicken pox, small pox, polio, etc. Man cannot, to date, kill any virus without killing the host. Vaccines to prevent viral infections are available, in cases of chicken pox, polio, small pox, to name a few and more are in development. Though, certainly in development, a vaccine for HIV is not availabe as yet. Antibiotics kill bacteria while in the host but don't work on viruses. Do drug companies actually want a vaccine? It certainly would affect the amount of money they get for medications used to support the symptoms of these illnesses. Do they want a cure? On which would they make more money? The treatment or the cure? Something to think about.

Answer 2

To sort of sum this answer up in a few words. HIV has the ability to mutate and adapt. Our bodies have natural defenses, but HIV can fool our antibodies into thinking that the HIV virus is harmless. Which leaves the virus to reek destruction on our bodies. This virus does the same thing to the medicine we create. The medicine is sent out to look for and destroy certain cells , but HIV will deceive the medicine like it deceives our natural antibodies. Thus making it very hard if not impossible to cure HIV.

Answer 3

HIV is a powerful virus. It is one of the fastest replicating viruses in nature, copying itself at amazing rates of 30,000 copies per day. The difficulty of designing antiviral drugs, along with the rate which HIV duplicates has made vaccine development an urgent priority.

Vaccines work by priming the immune sytem to respond quickly to an infection. To respond to bacterial and viral infections, immune system cells called T cells have to identify a protein from the pathogen as foreign or nonself. A fragment of nonself bacteria that triggers a response by T cells is called an Epitope. Epitopes Vaccines consists of epitomes of weakened virions. Although no actual infection occurs after vaccination, the immune system responds by activating cells that recognize the epitomes presented. If an authentic infection starts later, then the immune system is ready to rock it.

In the case of HIV, most epitomes presented to the immune system are derived from the protein called GP-120 that coats the virion's surface. But the rate that HIV evolves makes the effort of every HIV vaccine development futil. HIV evolves so fast, that is able to modify itself escaping the action of competitve or allosteric inhibitors, then duplicating itself creating stronger, more resistant virions.

Because so many different strains exist nowadays, researchers are aiming at the problem in a regional manner. A global vaccine wouldnt work with HIV because of the many subtypes and mutations. Many trials have been done only to fail, this is because of the complexity of this virus, and it wont change until this approach evolves. New antriretroviral medicines are succesfully implemented but the cost among with the side effects make them undesirable over a vaccine. The future looks very promising mainly for aniretroviral medicines but as of today vaccines have failed making HIV an incurable crhonic disease.

Answer 4

To date, there's no cure for the HIV virus(Human Immunolodeficiency Virus) which was discovered in 1980. There are just antiviral drugs to inhibit and to slow the progress of the disease. And drugs to boost the immune system. This virus attacks the CD4 helper lymphocyte and compromises the immune system.

It can be spread thru blood, vaginal fluids, semen and breast milk. its mode of transmission is having sex be it oral, vaginal or anal intercourse with an infected person; sex w/ persons with STD:blood transfusions of contaminated blood; use of contaminated needles such as those shared by drug addicts, and the ones used in tattoos. There are several studies made to find its cure Valpoic Acid used in epilepsy,and herbal extracts.

.HIV can lead to other diseases, such as tuberculosis; encephalitis; meningitis; Pneumocystic carini; and aids(acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and K aposi sarcoma and cancer.There is a vaccine for HIV but no cure just like cancer. ,

Answer 5

Mainly because there isn't just one virus. There are several strains, and the virus keeps mutating. Also, the big problem is that it is a retro virus, one made up of the backwards DNA, not the ones we have vaccines against.