Scientists announced for the first time that they could be nearing a cure for Aids, which has already claimed 25 million lives worldwide. A decade after the development of a therapeutic drug cocktail which transformed Aids from a killer infection to a chronic disease, doctors said yesterday that they may have made the next big breakthrough.Aids is unique among infectious diseases because even after treatment with a cocktail of powerful drugs, “latent” virus remains hidden in the body’s DNA and erupts as soon as treatment stops.The scientists found that combining a cheap drug called valproic acid with the existing therapeutic cocktail, the level of “latent” HIV fell dramatically. They claim they may be able to eliminate the latent HIV altogether, curing the disease.David Margolis, who led the research team at the University of North Carolina, said: “Our findings suggest that eradication of established HIV infection might be achieved in a staged approach. This finding, though not definitive, suggests that new approaches will allow the cure of HIV in the future.
