Why can't the hIV virus be killed?

Answer 1

Eliminating HIV is something that does not lie within our capability at present. Without a vaccine, it can't be done. We would have to insure that absolutely no person who is infected ever transmitted the virus through transfer of body fluids and absolutely no person who was not infected ever came into contact with the body fluids of an infected person. And for the rest of the lives of all the infected people living today. Plus, how much of the world's population do we have to test so that people know they're infected and need to cease behavior that would put other's at risk? That's behavioral monitoring on a scale that could only be dreamed about by a political dictator. Not gonna happen in the real world. Consider the case of smallpox. This nasty little bug really did some damage while on the loose. It was a monster, and it wasn't that long ago, either. Here are a few of paragraphs from the Wikipedia article. Read them and see why we are busting our buns to come up with a vaccine for HIV. "Smallpox killed an estimated 60 million Europeans including five reigning European monarchs, in the 18th century alone. Up to 30% of those infected, including 80% of the children under 5 years of age, died from the disease, and one third of the survivors became blind. Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300-500 million deaths in the 20th century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that two million died in that year. After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979. To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated from nature." Back to HIV. Since an infected person can't be cleared of the virus (even though it can be driven back by medication), that individual will always present a risk of infection to others. And will for the rest of his life. We can't protect ourselves from being infected by these people except by our own behavior. And by the way, choosing our behavior is actually a really good way to insure we avoid contracting HIV. The virus doesn't survive long outside the human body. And aren't we lucky it doesn't. If we protect ourselves when we participate in sexual activities, we can avoid infection. If we go only to reputable tattoo shops to get ink done, we can be safe. If we test ourselves, we can be sure we are not infected and avoid having HIV sneak up and blind side us. And we won't unknowingly infect others by participating in unprotected sex and passing the virus on. HIV isn't done with us humans yet. It's gonna continue to burn through the species big time, and the realities will be hitting home with each and every one of us very soon. And that's if they haven't already. You may be living with HIV infection. You may have a family member, friend or loved one who is infected, or maybe just an acquaintance who is now positive. It's possible that you or one or more of these others may be infected and not know it. And we still don't have a vaccine. It's coming up on the new year. Again. Time to wake up and smell the coffee. You can't afford to sleep in on this one.
By getting tested and staying protected

Answer 2

Yes, but only outside of the human host. Actually, any exposure outside of a human host will kill HIV, as it is very sensitive to drying and disruption of its fragile protein coat. This is why you don't have to worry about getting HIV from public toilet seats or other public places - the mere exposure of the virus to these surfaces destroys it.

Answer 3

No; once in the body HIV can not be killed.

Answer 4

The virus CAN be killed, but in the human body, most things that will kill the virus would also kill the human. Research is continuing on things that can kill the virus but not the human.