Australian researchers have discovered two "Achilles heels" in the hepatitis C virus that could help protect people against infection.
A team from the University of New South Wales says the discovery of these weaknesses could lead to the creation of an effective vaccine.
More than 200,000 Australians are known to have hepatitis C, while over 120 million people are affected worldwide.
Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact and causes chronic infection and liver disease that in many cases can lead to death.
Study leader Professor Andrew Lloyd said the discoveries were significant because of their potential to overcome the barriers that have slowed development of an effective hepatitis C vaccine.
"Hepatitis C is very difficult to target because there are many different strains of the virus," he said.
"Hepatitis C replicates faster than HIV and it's very variable, meaning that if it mutates too much the immune system has no defence against it."
The study found that there are two points or "bottlenecks" where the virus is weakened.
"These Achilles heels are like having whole forests suddenly narrow down to where you can make out a few remaining trees individually.
"These moments mean that the virus is vulnerable," Professor Lloyd said.
Dr Fabio Luciani of UNSW's Inflammation and Infection Research Centre, and the team's biostatistician, holds high hopes for the research.
"If we can help the immune system to attack the virus at these weak points early on, then we could eliminate the infection in the body completely," he said.
The research is reported in the scientific journal, PLoS Pathogens.
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