Scientists from the Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council have discovered an immunity vaccine that could potentially prevent HIV turning into AIDS.
The research, found 90% of its healthy volunteers developed an immunity against HIV after taking the vaccine, with 85% keeping the immunity in their system for a year.
The vaccine, which is based on treatment similar to the smallpox vaccine, works by training the immune system of a healthy person to detect and learn how to combat HIV.
Scientists are hoping that this vaccine will turn HIV into a ‘minor chronic infection’ in the long run rather than a life-threatening disease.
"It is like showing a picture of the HIV so that it is able to recognise it if it sees it again in the future," says Professor Mariano Esteban, from the Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council.