[CITATION][C] Can the immune response control HIV infection?

WE Paul - Cell, 1995 - Elsevier
WE Paul
Cell, 1995Elsevier
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) constitutes an unprecedented challenge to medical
science. Once an HIV infection is established, its clinical course, while protracted, is
generally inexorable. With the possible exception of a group of recently described" long-term
nonprogressors," virtually all HIV-infected individuals eventually develop acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the outcome of which is almost invariably fatal. The
course of HIV infection is quite different from that encountered in the great majority of …
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) constitutes an unprecedented challenge to medical science. Once an HIV infection is established, its clinical course, while protracted, is generally inexorable. With the possible exception of a group of recently described" long-term nonprogressors," virtually all HIV-infected individuals eventually develop acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the outcome of which is almost invariably fatal. The course of HIV infection is quite different from that encountered in the great majority of infectious diseases. The more normal experience in the contest between pathogens and their hosts is that of an acute infection in which some fraction of those infected recover and, thereafter, express solid immunity, protecting them against the same or related agents. Generally, the nature of protective immunity expressed by those that have recovered from infection may be used as a guide to the type of response that a vaccine should induce to provide protection. In the case of HIV, it has generally been believed that infected individuals never purge themselves of the virus, although this now appears to have been an oversimplification. The lack of information that would usually be provided by study of those who had recovered has meant that no correlation between type of immunity and protection could be drawn to guide scientists in their efforts to develop protective anti-HIV vaccines.
Elsevier