Warning About Sexually Transmitted Diseases Questions
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| November 08, 2009 11:30 AM |
----quote---
De Groot said that the biggest problem in creating a HIV vaccine is that the virus “has a special trap door” to get in and infect cells. This “trap door” means that antibodies, which a majority of vaccines rely on, cannot protect cells.
Antibodies are used by the immune system to plug cells so that viruses cannot get in. However the HIV virus is so small that it can get around the antibodies and inflect the cell.
De Groot said that another problem with creating a HIV vaccine is that HIV is a virus that evolves. The virus does this by mutating.
Therefore “if an immune response occurs,” said De Groot, “the virus mutates away from the response.” So the virus escapes the immune system altogether.
----end of quote---
You can read the full article at the source.
Source(s):
http://talkuga.blogspot.com/2008/04/hiv-vaccine-difficult-but-possible.html
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November 08, 2009 02:58 AM
There is a recent development that combo vaccine reduces risk of HIV infection, researchers say. -quote-
"A vaccine to prevent HIV infection, the virus that leads to AIDS, has shown modest results for the first time, researchers have found, raising hopes that a disease that kills millions every year may someday be beaten.
These results show that development of a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine is possible," said Colonel Nelson Michael, who is director of the U.S. military HIV research program.
The combination of vaccines tested targeted strains circulating in Thailand. It was unclear how the vaccines would work elsewhere, Kim said.
Researchers will announce details of their initial findings at the AIDS Vaccine Conference next month in Paris, France."
-end of quote-
Source(s):
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/hiv.vaccine/index.html
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November 08, 2009 03:15 AM
Because of the way HIV works. Most viruses attack one of your bodies cells, like the liver or red blood cells and feed on it, or have that cell reproduce for them. HIV is different in that it attacks your immune system, and turns the cells of your immune system into a reproducer for them. Now the stronger your body's immune system is, the worse the HIV will ravage you. AIDS is what has happened after HIV has taken its course. AIDS is just an immune deficiency, the state you are left in, not a virus. So there is no vaccine for that.
The trouble with vaccinating against HIV is that your body's immune system needs to be exposed to the virus in order to replicate something to fight it, but HIV will take that white blood cell and start replicating itself.
Another thing which hinders vaccination is that HIV infection does not provide immunity against HIV infections, you can get re-infected, aka "superinfected"
It also has a high genetic variability, which means once they do find a vaccine they'll have to continuously update it for the new strains.
This has so far been a complicated fight but it looks like they're nudging ever closer to a cure.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV
Tags: aids, vaccine
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