4th International AIDS Conference


Stockholm, Sweden. — June 12-16, 1988

[TITLE:] PROSPECTS FOR HIV VACCINES

Int Conf AIDS. 1988 Jun 12-16;4:1.109 (abstract no. PL16)

G.L. Ada
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA

Four stages in the control of an infectious agent by immunological mechanisms may be postulated.

  1. Prevention of infection - by specific antibody;
  2. Limitation of infection - by less specific mechanisms, such as NK cells;
  3. Recovery from infection - by a variety of factors, but particularly some effector T cells and their products;
  4. Rapid recruitment and activation of memory (specific) T and B lymphocytes.

There is little information about the relative importance of each stage in the control of an infection by individuals immunized with any traditional vaccines, but considerable data from experimental systems. This presentation discusses the possibility of developing a vaccine to HIV which will be effective at one or more of these stages, in view of

  1. Factors important in generating different immune responses;
  2. the known properties of HIVs;
  3. known or suspected modes of viral transmission;
  4. the target cells infected by the viruses;
  5. factors affecting the tropism of the virus;
  6. the immunopathology resulting from HIV infection.

Other proposed approaches (non traditional) will also be discussed. The known situation of responses to other viruses will be used to illustrate particular points.

880612
PL16

Copyright © 1988 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.