AIDS: Elderberry, chondroitin, and glucosamine sulfate have been found to block HIV replication at three distinct points in the replication cycle. For quadruple therapy, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor such as olive leaf extract or Epivir (3TC) could be added. In one case, a female, taking no HIV drugs, used an elderberry extract, called Sambucol, with olive leaf extract and experienced a viral load drop from 17,000 to 4,000. Instructions are given for making both alcohol-free and alcohol-based elderberry extracts. In 1993, researchers at Jerusalem?s Hebrew University Medical School found in a placebo-controlled double-blind study that Sambucol led to a rapid recovery from influenza and inhibited replication of nine other strains of the flu virus. A theory is that elderberry renders viruses nonfunctional by staining and coating them. Another promising treatment is soil based organisms, which improved Natural Killer cell function in a person with CFIDS.