Novel HIV Vaccine Research Strategies Explored

Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Two types of vaccines will help win the battle against HIV: preventive and therapeutic. A preventive vaccine would stimulate an HIV-specific memory in an individual’s immune system, so when that individual has future contact with the virus, a swift and effective immune response would result.

A preventive vaccine could also lower the ability of individuals who do become infected to transmit the virus to others. Therapeutic vaccines would help someone who has HIV control the infection.

Research on these novel vaccine strategies is described in an updated NIAID fact sheet titled Design of HIV Vaccines.

Despite extraordinary advances in understanding both HIV and the human immune system, a fully successful HIV vaccine continues to elude researchers. Some of the reasons why developing an effective HIV vaccine is so difficult are described in another updated fact sheet from NIAID, Challenges in Designing HIV Vaccines.

Next Steps
You can read Challenges in Designing HIV Vaccines at www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/challvacc.htm.

To read Design of HIV Vaccines, go to www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/hivvacdesign.htm.