We are using the same medical innovation that we used to fight COVID-19 to help HIV be eradicated once and for all.
Moderna, a company that specializes in HIV vaccines, announced last week it would begin a clinical trial with humans. This vaccine utilizes biotechnology based on messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to COVID-19. This drug induces the production of antibodies by stimulating white blood cells in order to neutralize and fight off viruses.
The vaccine’s success would make HIV-free living possible. The virus was once killing over 50,000 Americans each year. Medical innovations have mostly stopped it from spreading.
The current treatments are able to suppress HIV in a person’s bodies so that it is impossible for virus transmission or detection. With the help of antiretroviral treatments, close to 38 millions HIV-positive people around the globe can now live normal lives. It is a remarkable turnaround in infected persons’ lives in just three decades.
This treatment doesn’t mean that you will be cured. Regular medication is required to maintain HIV control. Accessing regular medication can prove difficult. Only 75% of HIV-positive individuals are receiving treatment at the moment. Two-thirds (32%) of HIV-positive people have received enough drug treatment to ensure that their HIV virus has been completely suppressed. HIV spread continues, with over 1.5 million infections in 2020.
The mRNA-inducible response may be able to take HIV fighting efforts to the next level, and perhaps even end it altogether. It is much like science has rid the world from the plague of polio.
This is only if the vaccine succeeds. Previous HIV vaccines failed in clinical trials. As a result, the following is available: There are reasonsRonald Bailey of’s noted in May that advances in mRNA tech have great potential for fighting viruses and disease beyond COVID. BioNTech has begun clinical trials in an attempt to make mRNA vaccines for different cancers. It worked alongside Pfizer when it developed the COVID-19 vaccine.
Although it’s too soon to be celebrating, it is worth noting the rapidity of medical innovations compared with what was possible decades ago.