Word: hiv
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...nearly 35 million people around the world now living with HIV, there may never be a cure. Once cells are infected with HIV, it's excruciatingly difficult--perhaps impossible--to rid them of the virus. The only sure way to stop the epidemic is to prevent infection in the first place, and only a vaccine can do that...
Unfortunately, HIV is one of the most changeable viruses known to science. After more than a dozen years, researchers are still chasing the moving target through all its mutations, trying to find a few common elements among all the strains in circulation that they can use to concoct an effective vaccine...
Most of the formulations, for example, fail to get the body to churn out enough of the T cells that are needed to target and destroy HIV-infected cells...
...many older patients, protease inhibitors, available since 1995 and taken in combination with other antivirals, have kept HIV at below detectable levels. And while recent studies show that some HIV stubbornly hides from the drugs' reach, early evidence suggests that these sequestered strains may not be infectious. Drug holidays--brief respites from the grueling and complex medication regimen--are also being studied, since some patients who have voluntarily stopped their therapy have experienced no return of symptoms...
Still, the billions of dollars spent on AIDS research over the past 20 years has not been wasted. As scientists learn more about how HIV co-opts the human body to survive, they are realizing that drugs alone may not be enough. To contain the virus effectively, it may take a balance between drug therapy that keeps HIV levels low and a bolstered immune system that can then target and destroy the remaining virus. Until scientists find a vaccine, however, they may control but never cure the century's final scourge...