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)