In truth, HIV/AIDS was once a killer that we thought we’d never beat. At first, we didn’t know what caused it. And then we didn’t know how to beat it. As a result, countless lives were lost.
Looking back, it’s a miracle how far we’ve come. In fact, celebrities like Magic Johnson and Charlie Sheen are now living healthy lives. And many mixed-status couples are able to maintain regular sex lives without transmitting the disease.
But why is this?
In case you need a quick refresher, HIV is a deadly virus spread through bodily fluids, like blood and semen. When a person contracts HIV, the virus begins to attack T cells, a type of cell that aids in immunity, lowering the number of these vital cells that fend off illness. The body is then unable to fight basic infections, leaving it unprotected against potential threats.
When HIV isn’t treated with proper medical interventions, the virus goes through three stages. The first is called acute HIV infection, or seroconversion, in which a person is extremely contagious. This is seen between two weeks and a month after a person contracts HIV. Generally, this causes flu-like symptoms because the body is trying to battle the initial presence of HIV. But not everyone has these symptoms.
Next, a person transitions to asymptomatic or chronic HIV infection. In this second stage, the virus is often dormant and multiplies more slowly. Often, no symptoms are seen, but the virus can still be transmitted to others.
The third stage of HIV infection is AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS is the deadly part of the disease because the body is defenseless against infection. When a person has AIDS, they will develop a fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, and feel weak. Severe weight loss, or wasting, is common. Plus, T-cells are extremely low. And without treatment, they will die in up to three years from a disease that the body was unable to fight, such as pneumonia.
While there’s still no cure for HIV, some pretty amazing breakthroughs have taken place. In fact, these breakthroughs are allowing people to live long and healthy lives, while managing this chronic disease. And those who are HIV-negative but may be at risk can take precautions to reduce the chance of contracting HIV in the first place.
Check out these four breakthroughs that are miraculous in the way of HIV prevention and protection. But they aren't for everyone, and a doctor can advise you of your risk and whether these treatments are for you.
- PrEP
- Needle Exchange Programs
- Vaginal Rings
- Prototype HIV Vaccine
We often wonder how mixed-status couples manage to have healthy sex lives without transmitting the disease to the uninfected partner. Condoms were once the only method of preventing infection. However, a breakthrough method of prevention has now changed the game in this respect.
That method is called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP. This is a combination of two medications called tenofovir and emtricitabine that are used in the treatment of HIV itself. When taken on a daily basis, PrEP reduces a person’s risk of contracting HIV by more than 90 percent in sexually active people, and the risk decreases by 70 percent in those who share needles.
Needle exchange programs have become a highly effective method of preventing the transmission HIV among IV drug users. In fact, the ACLU reports that these programs have removed almost 25 million syringes from drug communities. And the CDC reports that using a sterile, disposable syringe is the most effective way to limit HIV transmission among drug users.
Studies back this up. One study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that high-risk behaviors were reduced by as much as 80 percent in needle exchange programs. A fringe benefit of these programs is that those who participated may be five times more likely to seek help for the drug problem itself. Even the rate of HIV transmission has decreased by somewhere between one-third and two-fifths.
According to Science magazine, vaginal rings reflect a recent effort in the way of preventing HIV infection to high-risk women. A vaginal ring is designed to release antiretroviral medications into the vagina, which may lower the risk of contracting HIV.
Two trials conducted in sub-Saharan Africa have been more successful than others in that that they have been found to reduce a woman’s risk of infection by about 30 percent. This is good news to the science community because other efforts have failed.
“The good news is the trials provide a consistent finding: The ring provided modest protection,” Mitchell Warren, who heads AVAC, a nonprofit in New York City that advocates for HIV prevention, tells Science magazine. “But it is oh-so-modest.”
Other studies have had opposing results. This is why these two studies are unique in this respect.
“This (set of studies) was the last hope for microbicides in many ways,” Thomas Hope of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois tells Science. Though Hope was not affiliated with the studies, he was surprised by the results. “I was expecting the results to be depressing,” he adds.
That said, this method has been found to be less effective in younger women. Experts tell Science that this may be due to differences in the actual genital tract. In addition, women involved in the studies may not have adhered to the guidelines of usage of the rings, which could have affected the outcome.
Future goals of researchers include trying higher levels of the medication that the ring releases, which is called dapivirine. In addition, researchers may experiment with other antiretroviral drugs.
According to Science Daily, scientists at Royal Holloway in the UK have developed an actual prototype HIV vaccine. The research, associated with the UK HIV Vaccine Consortium, has been led by Professor Jonathon Weber at Imperial College London. In its research, the team has developed two HIV vaccine vector candidates.
"Discovery of an effective vaccine against HIV is one of the greatest challenges in medical research,” Professor Dickson, from the School of Biological Sciences, at Royal Holloway, tells Science Daily. “Our work makes a contribution to the growing and profound body of knowledge about the nature of protective immune responses required for an effective AIDS vaccine. But success will require multidisciplinary efforts like the UK HVC to take discoveries in the lab onwards through preclinical testing and manufacture, into early human trials."