Medical experts and researchers are still nowhere close on producing an effective cure or vaccine against HIV after 30 years of its discovery. HIV patients have been saved from death sentence by antiretroviral drug treatment which made it a chronic disease. So what reasons why medical science remains puzzled on the exact, effective and economic cure against the deadly virus?

HIV is a complex virus with characteristics that makes cure or vaccine development very difficult even with advanced technologies used in medicine. There are several things to consider on the virus' properties before any drug can become effective to become a cure or vaccine. Here are three reasons among dozens of others why HIV cure or vaccine remains unavailable today.

Rapid Mutation

Most people thought that the rhinovirus which causes the common cold is curable but in truth, the virus is incurable. Treatments against cold is used to improve the patient's immune system and fast recovery but not to kill the pathogen because rhinovirus mutates rapidly, confusing the immune cells.

This property has been found on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV which makes development of cure or vaccine difficult. Once it enters the body, the virus mutates rapidly which confuses natural defences of the body from eliminating it. As the virus attaches itself on the specific killer T-Cell, it multiplies and destroys the cell then infects others that eventually lower the immune system of the patient.

As of today, not a single drug can lockdown all the genetic code of HIV, which is why the virus cannot be killed.

Vaccine Creation

Vaccine development have rules and not every single infection can be treated using vaccines. Here are a number of factors why HIV is special on the vaccine case:

1. Vaccines mimic natural immunity against reinfection and almost no one recovers from AIDS.

2. Most vaccines were developed to protect against diseases and HIV takes a long time before causing AIDS.

3. Developed vaccines have dead or weakened organisms and a dead HIV does not activate immune response while a live HIV can be very risky.

4. Vaccines are generally designed against infections that are not frequently encountered but HIV can be encountered frequently by unprotected sexual activities, needle sharing or blood transmission.

5. Mucosal surfaces such as respiratory and gastrointestinal are usually protected by vaccines against infections but the HIV goes most of the time through the genital area.

Possible Resistance

Multiple strain of HIV could cause drug resistance which can be deadly if no drug can stop the virus' replication throughout the body. It is advised to strictly follow the drug regimen against the virus to reduce risk to transmit and slow down multiplication. Unprotected sexual activities, sharing of infected needles and having multiple sexual partner increases the risk on getting multiple strain which makes treatment difficult and troublesome.

Right now, several scientific experiments and research are developing possible candidate as HIV cure or vaccine which will help patients effectively rather than depending on antiretroviral drugs. These vaccines are also designed to become inexpensive so that all people from around the world can reach for the treatment.