Second patient has been cured of HIV, study suggests. A study of the second HIV patient to undergo successful stem cell transplantation from donors with a HIV-resistant gene, finds that there was no active viral infection in the patient's blood 30 months after they stopped anti-retroviral therapy, according to a case report. Source 7s.
Long-acting, injectable drug could strengthen efforts to prevent, treat HIV. Scientists have developed an injectable drug that blocks HIV from entering cells. They say the new drug potentially offers long-lasting protection from the infection with fewer side effects. The drug, which was tested in non-human primates, could eventually replace or supplement components of combination drug 'cocktail' therapies currently used to prevent or treat the virus. Source 2b.
New imaging method reveals HIV's sugary shield in unprecedented detail. Scientists have devised a method for mapping in unprecedented detail the thickets of slippery sugar molecules that help shield HIV from the immune system. Mapping these shields will give researchers a more complete understanding of why antibodies react to some spots on the virus but not others, and may shape the design of new vaccines that target the most vulnerable sites on viruses.