Towards the eradication of HIV/AIDS

After the polio and cholera pandemics in the 20th century and outbreaks in the recent past that collectively saw millions of people sent to their untimely graves, the world thought it had seen the worst of fatal epidemics until the HIV/AIDS pandemic broke out in the 1980s. The classic symptom of the disease, which is severe immune deficiency in highly infected individuals, was first discovered in 1981 and was initially thought to be restricted to gay men until 1982 when the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) reported an infant AIDS infection that resulted from a blood transfusion.

Since then, the AIDS virus has been responsible for the death of over 25 million people worldwide while another estimated 37 million people are currently living with the infection. Unlike the polio virus, a vaccine to curtail or cure the dreaded infection is yet to materialize.

According to the UN General Consul, John Bray, over $3.4 billion has been donated by the US government, to support the HIV/AIDS response in the country. Of the 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, 600,000 have access to anti-retroviral drugs while another 750,000 people living with HIV/AIDS have been able to receive support to live normal, healthy lives.

However, in line with the newly set Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, monetary support isn’t enough. By 2030, the UN hopes that HIV/AIDS would have been eradicated as an epidemic.

From small pox to cholera and polio, infections caused by viruses are tough to deal with for various reasons. A virus is not exactly categorised as a living organism because outside of a living cell, it ceases to exist. In a living cell, the virus takes over the genetic store house of the cell and causes the cell to help it multiply rapidly, feeding off the cell’s nutrients and eventually killing it in the process.

To be able to do this, most viruses also have the ability to change the shapes and structures of their outer protein covering enabling them attach successfully to various cells and multiply rapidly in the body without being inhibited by antibodies the immune system produces in response to their presence.  The HIV/AIDS virus in particular is known to have various strains or types and this has made it difficult for scientists to pin down a particular drug of cure or prevention. Another implicating factor with viral infections such as HIV/AIDS is how quickly they weaken the body’s immune system making it impossible for the body to produce antibodies to fight the invading viruses.

Anti-retrovirals slow down the proliferation of the viruses and helps boost the immune system to keep fighting. Owing to the nature of viruses, one single class of anti-retroviral isn’t enough to curtail the effect of the disease due to speedy resistance of the viruses to the drugs over a short period of time. Patients therefore are usually put to a combined regimen (Anti Retroviral therapy – cARV) to help maintain an appreciable quality of life.

Like the polio virus, scientist began playing with the idea of discovering a vaccine to help prevent the disease in the first place and hence eradicate it just as the polio epidemic was. Tons of research work after, are we close to discovering a vaccine that hits the last nail on the coffin of this deadly scourge?

Scientists think we are closer than we have ever been. A vaccine is a weakened strain of a microorganism that is biologically inactive. When injected into the human body, the body’s immune system secrets antibodies that attack the introduced microorganisms referred to as antigens and destroys them. By so doing, the body develops a memory for the microorganism and so when a real infection occurs in the future, the body swings into action twice as fast, killing off the organisms and restoring the body to health.

Researches have been ongoing for more than a decade on finding a vaccine to help beat the scourge of HIV/AIDS worldwide. Just like the polio vaccine was able to terminate a widespread pandemic, hopes are alive that with the discovery of an HIV vaccine, more people stand the chance to live better healthier lives, free of infection and fewer deaths will be recorded resulting from the disease. This is how we achieve the SDG

An antibody named VRC01 was discovered six years ago and was a beacon of light in the search for an HIV vaccine. However, when introduced to varying strains of the AIDS virus, only 90% of the variants were successfully eliminated. Recently, a new antibody named N6 which potentially eliminated 98% of HIV variants it was tested against, has been discovered by the National Institutes of Health. This could be the holy grail in the fight to end HIV/AIDS. The N6 antibody has shown the ability to attach to the virus despite its constantly changing variants. It can also bypass the virus’s mechanisms to prevent being attached to antibodies secreted to eliminate them.

However, at 98%, scientists are yet to discover an antibody that eliminates 100% of the varying strains of the AIDS virus if his is possible. There are also concerns on how a vaccine can be created to stimulate the body to produce this antibody that has the ability to destroy the virus.

While hopes are high that this may be a groundbreaking discovery in the search for an AIDS vaccine, scientists say this may be still be far-fetched, may be more than 10 years away, according to Dr. Jeffrey Klausner of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. To achieve the 2030 goal to eradicate HIV/AIDS as an epidemic, scientists agree that an AIDS vaccine is the only answer.

 

KOSISO UGWUEDE