There's now hope at the end of the tunnel for patients with chronic viral infections, such as HIV and hepatitis B.

According to an article published online by Nature magazine, Chinese scientists have identified a unique subset of virus-specific CD8+ T cells playing a pivotal role in the control of viral replication during chronic infection.

Ye Lilin, a professor from the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing and a co-author of the article, said that the CD8+ T cells kill infected cells and secrete antiviral cytokines to effectively clear the virus in the acute infection.

Currently, chemical drugs can only restrain the viral replication to some extent, but not clear the virus in treating patients of HIV, hepatitis B and cancers.

Ye said the new findings would allow researchers to find certain measures to improve and stabilize the function of CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells to clear the virus, offering possibility of curing these diseases.