Over the past decade, scientists have made incredible strides in the field of HIV research – leading to the development of numerous medications that can effectively manage the disease and provide patients with a near normal life expectancy.

 

But a cure for the human immunodeficiency virus has still eluded scientists, and now a new report from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has revealed that completely eradicating the virus may be much more difficult than previously thought.

 

In a new study published in the journal Cell, researchers have discovered that the reservoir of latent or inactive HIV that silently lingers in a patient’s body is much larger than scientists believed.  In fact, this pool of viruses – known as HIV proviruses – may actually be 60-fold greater than previous estimates.

 

According to researchers, these findings are a major setback in the fight to cure HIV.

 

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