For the first time researchers from the U.S. and abroad have
shown a single-dose HIV DNA vaccine can induce a long-lasting
HIV-specific immune response in nonhuman primates, a discovery
that could prove significant in the development of HIV vaccines.
They detail their findings in the February 2010 issue of the
Journal of Virology. HIV is persistently spreading at epidemic
rates throughout the world emphasizing the need for a vaccine
that can substantially reduce viral loads and minimize
transmission. History shows vaccines to be the most effective
strategy against pandemic infectious diseases such as smallpox,
polio, measles and yellow fever, however, the control of HIV not
only relies on the production of neutralizing antibodies, but
also the development of high frequency, broadly targeted T-cell
responses specific to the virus. To date live-attenuated simian
immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/HIV vaccines have prompted the most
significant immune response against AIDS in a nonhuman primate
model, but risk of rede