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Researchers have developed a medical imaging technique which reveals where in the body HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) lies hidden, even when people have their infection well controlled by antiviral drugs. The team at the University of California, San Francisco hope this will lead to better treatments and even cures for HIV.
The technique could also be used to investigate the notion that long Covid is caused by the coronavirus persisting deep in the body's tissues.

Timothy Henrich, Associate Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, explains the dangers of viruses that go undetected, or lurk around the body when the symptoms have subsided. He notes that a virus that can't be killed off is an even bigger problem. HIV is famously difficult to eradicate, even with powerful drugs, but that the new body imaging technique, PET, can spot HIV-infected tissues. He says this is possible thanks to a molecular trick that his team has developed. This is an antibody with weakly radioactive atoms attached it. Once in the body, the antibody latches only onto HIV particles and the imaging machine reveals their location from the atom’s radioactive ‘shine’. He explains that the imaging can also show how viruses change with various treatments and could potentially lead to the eradication of aninfection.

Image: VRCPET body scan reveals HIV's hideouts Credit: Timothy Henrich / University of California, San Francisco