Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

[prashantakerkar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV

1. Can a HIV infected Patient's Blood be used for other Patients of the same blood group. i.e if another patient gets the Blood of a HIV Infected Patient, are there any chances of affecting the Blood Receiver of HIV Virus ?

2. Why there is no cure or vaccine available for HIV Virus till date. Do you think the vaccines for the same are achievable
with Extensive Medical Research in Pathology and other related Medical Fields ?

3. If in the near future, Medical Scientists/Physiologists/Researchers do come out with Vaccines for the same, will he/she/ will // should get a Nobel Prize in Physiology ?

My Opinion
-----------------

I am optimistic that Vaccines will be available for the same with extensive research.
The reason for this is once upon a time, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Chicken Pox, Measles, Typhoid etc
were considered Dreaded Diseases but with medical research, now they are no longer considered
dreadful as vaccines/cures are available for them. Even Vaccine was created for the Current
Swine Flu Virus. So i feel eventually there will be a vaccine even for AIDS.


HIV Related Link

------------------------

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... _hivviru...


Vaccines Databases for all Diseases

-----------------------------------------------------


http://www.vaclib.org/basic/vacingredient.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/photo-all-vpd.htm

Related Links

-------------------



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV

http://www.medicinenet.com/human_immuno ... _aids/ar...

http://www.hiv.com/

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hivaids/page3_em.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV_vaccine



It is rather surprising that in the 21st century, we are still unable to find neither a cure or a vaccine for the HIV.

I personally feel the diagnostics and line of treatment is incorrect. it is more than 30 years (year 1980 origin) and honestly 30 years is a very long time span.


The first thing which comes to my mind is the origin of the virus itself, the virus samples (chimpanzee, monkey species from North / South America, Africa etc continents) itself may be incorrectly taken under the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).


Research Lab Setup
-----------------------------


1. Its important for developing any new vaccine/cure for any new virus to have in the Research Lab for all vaccines and cures available in the lab for all new investigations. i.e vaccine and cure for Malaria, Cholera, Typhoid, Jaundice, Polio, Tuberculosis, Chicken pox, Small pox, Hepatitis, Rabies, Measles, Bird Flu, Swine Flu etc.

Why this is required because every vaccine / cure found previously for any diseases will have a chemical composition which is to be studied in depth. Though we know malaria is caused by a mosquito, it is required in the Lab for HIV Vaccine and Cure.



2. It is important to have samples of all species which have caused/spread/infected virus to human beings and other species i.e samples of mosquito, fly, pigs, monkeys, mice, dogs etc.



3. It is important to have samples of human beings in terms of blood,urine,stool,sputum etc which have been infected by the specific virus, bacteria and caused the disease.



4. The Research Laboratory will have a Pathology, Bio-Chemical, Surgical Departments with latest sophisticated state of the art machines, tools and equipments viz SEM, Microscopes, Chemicals, Slides, Test Tubes, Flasks etc



5. In the case of HIV, we should Google for "Viruses caused by Chimpanzees and Monkey Species" for similar line of treatment i.e chemical composition.



6. The HIV Cure can be tested on HIV infected persons and if the related symptoms caused to HIV are eliminated, we can reach to a conclusion that the HIV cure is a success.



I conclude that this long period of 30 years and above for detecting and finding a solution/cure and the vaccine is due to incorrect samples of the virus origin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virology

Got some Good Links regarding the same.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_e ... microscope

http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/211860/enlarge

http://news.ucsc.edu/2009/09/3179.html

My Opinion

----------------

We have prestigious Hospitals (Both Government owned and Private) in Mumbai. To name a few viz Breach Candy, KEM, Nair, Jaslok, Dhirubhai Ambani etc. They will be getting patients affected with HIV virus. They should setup a R&D pathology Lab within Hospital. Then they should collect Blood, Urine, Sputum, Stools Samples from say 100 HIV patients, study the virus with sophisticated/state of the art medical devices viz electron microscope, perform virus cultivation activities, testing.

In fact i had a talk with a Pathology Doctor regarding my inputs and he appreciated it.

Eventually if any of the reputed Hospitals come out with a vaccine for the same, it is a big achievement not only for the Hospital but also for the medical team. There are also chances of getting Nobel Prize for Physiology to the Team and the Doctor Researcher heading the Team.

Note : The HIV Virus is in existence for a long time now and still the Europeans and Americans are unable to find a vaccine for the same, so it will be a big achievement for the Indian Doctors. We have to also trace the origin of the virus i.e from where it originated.

If the R&D activity is already carried out for the same by the Hospitals, it is great.

Thanks & Regards,
Prashant S Akerkar

[JackBean]

1 of course

2 may be, one day...
(if you think it's wrong direction, go ahead and start your own research)

3 I'm not sure. Prof. Holý, who is researching besides others viruses also HIV, wasn't nominated the Nobel prize, because it's applied research, which should not be awarded by Nobel prize.

[prashantakerkar]

Thank you.

The Infrastructure for building/setting up any Research Laboratory viz Biochemical, Pathological, Surgical has to be Modern.

isn't it ?

Thanks & Regards,
Prashant S Akerkar

[JackBean]

should be

[brylle28]

Many people do not develop any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV. Some people, however, get a flu-like illness within three to six weeks after exposure to the virus. This illness, called Acute HIV Syndrome, may include fever, headache, tiredness, nausea, diarrhoea.

[ChesneMD]

1) Yes.
2) There are treatments, but it's like the flu causing viruses. They mutate and we cannot control them. As for the flue viruses, we cannot predict what it will be next season. For HIV, we cannot predict how it will mutate. This is why treatment usually includes multiple medications into a cocktail which try to eliminate as many resistances as possible. But is only 40% effect, If I remember correctly. It may be slightly higher since I last knew.

As for a cure, there are some, and one accidentally found by a German doctor that used the same technique for Leukemia patients. They eradicated the bone marrow/immune system and replaced ("retrained, in a sense) it with another. No sign of leukemia or HIV was present in the patient after the procedure. It may not be applicable for all, but it seems like a step in the right direction. I do not know the specifics, I merely know what my virology professor mentioned about it. He had a hypothesis about it years before the accident, and turns out he was right.

But viruses in and of themselves are hard to treat. There is no cure for the flue, even, and it's been around as long as we have. The last flu epidemic was in the 1950s, I think. But we still cannot even control the current seasonal strain.

Most of why HIV is hard to cure is because of how quickly it mutates. We cannot get ahead of it, same as the flu. And I know I keep reiterating that. You also have to remember, the vaccine for the past season's flu will not work for next season's. It's not a one time one kill pony. The "cure" for flu currently is a lot of rest and a lot of liquids. You can treat the symptoms, however.

So given that, and how fast HIV mutates, it's no surprise we haven't eradicated it. But just think for a moment of how advanced we are compared to everything else. We have a very large handle on HIV in the short 30 years versus everything else. And the only disease considered naturally eradicated currently is Small pox. It exists in a couple of labs as part of biodefense research, if I recall correctly.

Aside from the German oncologist who may have hit gold, I think it is possible we will eventually stop HIV from being as bad as it is, but it isn't just the vaccine we need to be focused on. We need to prevent it from spreading and mutating, and that is done with education on the subject and other prevention methods.

As for #3, I cannot speak about that.