AIDS vaccine 'could remove all traces of disease from sufferers' | Mail Online

• Vaccine enables immune system to be constantly 'on the alert' for HIV
• More than half of infected monkeys given vaccine showed 'no signs' of virus in tests
• Human trials is next step for vaccine development

An experimental drug helped monkeys with a form of the Aids virus control the infection for more than a year, suggesting it may lead to a vaccine for people, or even a cure.

Researchers said Cytomegalovirus (CMV) works by priming the immune system to quickly attack the HIV virus when it first enters the body, a point at which thevirus is most vulnerable.

Dr Louis Picker of the Oregon National Primate Research Centre, whosestudy appears in the journal Nature, said he thinks it will be possibleto have a vaccine ready to test in people within three years.

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