A new generation of HIV vaccines

WHO estimates that currently there are 40 million individuals living with HIV and there are 16 000 new infections daily, worldwide. The best strategy to control the AIDS epidemic would be the development of an effective vaccine. New strategies for vaccine development have gained momentum over the past decade, some of which show greater promise in macaque models than did earlier protein-subunit or recombinant-canarypox strategies. These new vaccines include DNA vaccines and live viral vectors, and have been based on the generation of high levels of antiviral T cells. These vaccines do not prevent infection, but rather control virus replication with a rapid expansion and then contraction of antiviral T cells in response to the challenge infection. These recent vaccine successes in macaques raise hope that a vaccine can be developed that will successfully limit both the development of AIDS and viral transmission.