Posted on February 22, 2017
Source: Science
"Positive results from small clinical studies without control groups often get dismissed as anecdote, and for good reason: Many don’t pan out in more rigorous trials. But when a field suffers as much failure as the search for an AIDS vaccine has over the past 30 years, researchers sometimes celebrate glimpses of hope.
That’s what happened here last week when scientists showed that a vaccine may have helped five people already infected with HIV keep the virus in check—a “functional cure” as some call it. The results, which need to be confirmed in larger studies, suggest the vaccine may boost the immune system enough to allow infected people to drive down HIV levels without taking drugs—although it’s not clear for how long."
