SnailyBoy Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Vaccine that prevents HIV is currently being tested http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01546818 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jam on it Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Brilliant news, but where did HIV come from all of a sudden? where was it before the eighties? *can open, worms everywhere* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneha Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 There's also the possibility of a cure after two men with HIV had stem cell transplants for cancer and were left with no trace of the virus in their systems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Brilliant news, but where did HIV come from all of a sudden? where was it before the eighties? *can open, worms everywhere* It crossed over from the animal kingdom, as viruses do sometimes, it was from a chimp I believe, although from what I read it's not particularly harmful for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnailyBoy Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 Brilliant news, but where did HIV come from all of a sudden? where was it before the eighties? *can open, worms everywhere* It crossed over from the animal kingdom, as viruses do sometimes, it was from a chimp I believe, although from what I read it's not particularly harmful for them. More details here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_HIV/AIDS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 I don't know if anybody knows but I'm sure I read about some people in Africa who are immune to the virus. I don't think I imagined it.... But if there is a vaccine on the way that's excellent news. I'm part of that generation of prople growing up in the 1980s scared witless by the 'tombstone' advert, and felt the stigma of AIDS being labelled 'the gay plague' by the filthy tabloids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 I don't know if anybody knows but I'm sure I read about some people in Africa who are immune to the virus. I don't think I imagined it.... I saw a documentary about a group of prostitutes from South Africa who had had unprotected sex with hundreds of men, yet had not contracted HIV. The scientists were speculating that the women may have somehow developed an immunity. This was several years ago. I hope that the trials are a success and we can rid the world of another cruel, nasty illness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Brilliant news, but where did HIV come from all of a sudden? where was it before the eighties? *can open, worms everywhere* One of the first recorded cases was a sailor from Manchester who died of AIDS in the mid-1950s. They didn't know what he died of at the time, but they kept samples because his death was very unusual. When they went back and tested the samples it turned out he had been infected with HIV, probably on one of his trips to West Africa. It would be brilliant if a successful vaccine has been developed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneha Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 I don't know if anybody knows but I'm sure I read about some people in Africa who are immune to the virus. I don't think I imagined it.... But if there is a vaccine on the way that's excellent news. I'm part of that generation of prople growing up in the 1980s scared witless by the 'tombstone' advert, and felt the stigma of AIDS being labelled 'the gay plague' by the filthy tabloids I read a while back that many people had an natural immunity to the bubonic plague and their descendants are likely to be immune to HIV because of a genetic mutation passed down the generations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Brilliant news, but where did HIV come from all of a sudden? Viruses that replicate through DNA use the same mechanisms the host cell uses to create its own DNA, a process that includes a kind of "proof-reading" of the genetic material being copied. This means mutations occur more slowly. Examples of DNA viruses such as smallpox. These viruses spread through human populations and were often fatal. But once vaccinations were developed viruses like smallpox were contained and all but eradicated. RNA viruses, on the other hand, replicate without a similar proofreading activity, and as a result, errors in the genetic coding occur. Its these errors that allow RNA viruses, such as influenza and HIV, to mutate rapidly from host cell to host cell, and make it difficult for vaccines and natural immunities to keep up and prepare for new strains of the virus. LINK HIV is an RNA virus, as is Bird Flu. Bird Flu at present can only attach itself to cell receptors deep within the lungs, hence it is difficult for it to spread in humans. An error in replication as mentioned above could produce a new strain that can attach to receptors found on cells in the nose, throat and upper airway, enabling them to infect a person’s respiratory tract. (This is how normal season influenza spreads.) Errors in virus replication. Keeps us on our toes. Or off our feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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