Researchers at Oxford University developing a vaccine for Hepatitis C say they have had promising results from the first human trials.
They revealed a cousin of the common cold virus offered the first hope of an effective vaccine against the chronic liver infection.
Early trial results mirror responses seen in the minority of people with natural immunity to the disease.
Although sufferers can currently be treated for the chronic liver disease, not everyone responds.
But researchers hope a vaccine could protect those at risk and potentially those who already have the virus.
Brenda Deeley suffers from Hepatitis C and does not know how she contracted the disease.
She said: "I was tired. I used to get on the bus and go to work and literally fall asleep. You know when you're so tired you could cry and I thought there is something wrong."
"I went to the doctor, he did a blood test and couldn't find anything and I said to them something is wrong, then my liver test came back and it wasn't quite right and he said let's try Hepatitis C and he did a test and I was positive".
Brenda, 61, a staff secretary from Bicester, was born in South Africa.
It is thought dirty needles used during operations decades ago could be to blame for her contracting the disease, which is transmitted through the blood.
Like many other sufferers, her symptoms remained hidden and only surfaced this year. She is receiving treatment, but is also one of the 39 patients currently taking part in trials to develop a vaccine.
"It's a long term treatment for 24 to 48 weeks," she said.
"So for those weeks you're having all this medication and feeling terrible and tired, whereas with a vaccine I've been fine. So if you can just have the vaccine that would be marvellous."
Professor Paul Klenerman, from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at Oxford University, is a senior researcher in the study.
He said: "Hepatitis C is a big problem in the world.
"There's about 170 million people in the world who have Hep C and it's a major cause of liver disease.
"Not everyone who gets Hep C is going to have a problem but of the quarter of a million of people we've got in the UK, a fair fraction will end up with cirrhosis so that's the end stage of liver scarring.
"Some will go on to need a transplant and it's one of the most important reasons people need a transplant in this country, and a fraction also get liver cancer, so it could be a major problem if you become a chronic carrier."
So far experts have established that the vaccine is safe. If further trials show it works, sufferers could benefit within a decade.
Professor Klenerman added: "It's an important first step. We don't have a vaccine currently, and we do need a vaccine and this type of vaccine could be useful in protecting people against Hep C and potentially in a form of treatment.
"We've shown the vaccine can generate the kind of immune responses we wanted but we need to show they are protective in the next phase of the trial, so there's still a lot of work to do".
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