Possible cure for AIDS?!

Is a vaccine as good as a cure?

If so stock up on Garlic haha

Great question Bango. Here is the definition I have for a vaccine:

vac·cine
vac·cine [vak sn, vák sn]
(plural vac·cines)
n 1. inoculation: a preparation containing weakened or dead microbes of the kind that cause a disease, administered to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against that disease
2. protective software: a software program that protects a system against a computer virus
[Late 18th century. < Latin vaccinus "of a cow" < vacca "cow," because originally the cowpox virus used to prevent smallpox]
Vaccine was used by the British physician Edward Jenner at the end of the 18th century in the terms vaccine disease , meaning "cowpox," and hence vaccine inoculation , meaning the technique he developed of preventing smallpox by injecting people with cowpox virus. There is no evidence of the use of vaccine as a noun to denote the inoculated material until the 1840s.
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
For another definition you can check this Wikipedia article.

Now for the definition of the word cure:

cure
cure [kyoor]
v (past and past participle cured, present participle cur·ing, 3rd person present singular cures)
1. vti heal somebody: to restore a sick person or animal to health
Six months later she was completely cured.
2. vt treat illness successfully: to bring an end to an illness, disorder, or injury by medical treatment
Diseases like this are not easily cured.
3. vt resolve problem: to bring an end to a problem
curing unemployment
4. vti preserve food: to preserve food, especially meat or fish, usually by smoking, drying, or salting it, or be preserved by one of these methods
5. vt preserve something by drying: to preserve a substance, especially leather or tobacco, by drying it
6. vt manufacturing finish something with chemical process: to finish a material by applying chemicals
7. vt industry make rubber stronger: to strengthen rubber with additives in the presence of heat and pressure
8. vti construction harden something: to make a material, especially concrete or cement, harden
n (plural cures)
1. something that restores health: a medication or treatment that brings about a full recovery from an illness or injury
working to find a cure for the disease
2. recovery: restoration or return to health
I managed to achieve a complete cure.
3. problem's solution: something that resolves a problem
4. food preservation process: the preservation of meat or fish, especially by smoking, drying, or salting
5. spiritual care: in the Christian Church, the spiritual and pastoral responsibility of the clergy for laypeople
[13th century. Via French < Latin curare "care for" < cura "care, concern"]
-cur·er, , n
The Latin word cura , "care," "concern," from which cure is derived, is also the source of Englishcurate1,curious,scour1,secure, andsinecure.
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
(whew...)

Now if you look at the thesaurus:

cure (n)
treatment, therapy, medicine, medication, remedy, antidote
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

And for vaccine:
vaccine (n)
inoculation, injection, serum, preparation, shot (informal)
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Ok, so we know that a cure is synonymous with the idea of the process of treatment whereas the vaccine is often the medium for prevention of getting sick in the first place. The idea of a cure assumes that someone is already sick where as the vaccine prevents sickness and in many cases can be the "cure" or treatment if a certain condition is not too far gone. Seeing it this way, a vaccine may be better than a cure because of the prevention aspect.