c
auses AIDS to hide inside the human body cells without triggering the natural defense system to cause AIDS.
According to the scientists, the new discovery shows that revealing the virus using an experimental drug triggers an immune response that stops the virus from reproducing in the cells grown in the laboratory.
They claim that the new findings could help to improve existing therapies for HIV infection and influence new ways of HIV treatment.
The discovery also reveals that the innate immune system is the body’s first line of defence against infection and incorporates an alarm system present in all cells of the body that detects the presence of ‘foreign’ material from invading bacteria and viruses.
The workings show that when the alarm is tripped, the infected cell begins an anti-viral programme and sends out warning signals to alert other cells that a virus is around.
Nigeria has the second largest prevalence rate of HIV patients in the world.
According to reports, the prevalence rate is among adults between ages 15 to 49.
The HIV epidemic in the country is complex and the epidemic is more concentrated in areas with high-risk behaviours while other regions have more generalised epidemics that are sustained primarily by multiple sexual partnerships in the general population.
Youth and young adults are particularly vulnerable to the HIV virus, with young women at higher risk than young men.
There are many risk factors that contribute to the spread of HIV, including prostitution, high-risk practices among itinerant workers, high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI), clandestine high-risk heterosexual and homosexual practices, international trafficking of women, and irregular blood screening.
It would be recalled that earlier this year, a Nigerian Professor Isaiah Ibeh, dean, School of Basic Medical Science, University of Benin, UNIBEN, announced his discovery of a herbal medicine capable of curing AIDS, but his claim was refuted by NAFDAC.
Nigeria recently celebrated the World AIDS Day with sensitisation campaigns all over the country for zero tolerance for the virus.