The HIV vaccine is being studied and investigated by scientists around the world, but there is still no vaccine that is truly effective. Over the years, there were many hypotheses that the ideal vaccine would have been found, however, the vast majority did not pass the second phase of testing the vaccine and was not made available to the public.
HIV is a complex virus that acts directly on the main cell of the immune system, causing changes in the immune response and hindering its struggle. Learn more about HIV.
- Currently.
- There is no effective vaccine against the HIV virus because it behaves differently from other viruses.
- Such as influenza or chickenpox.
- In the case of HIV.
- The virus affects one of the body’s most important defense cells.
- The CD4 T cell.
- Which controls the immune response of the entire body.
- “Normal” vaccines offer a portion of the virus that is dead or alive.
- Which is enough for the body to recognize the aggressor agent and stimulate the production of antibodies against the virus.
However, in the case of HIV, it is not enough to stimulate the production of antibodies, because it is not enough for the body to fight the disease. HIV-positive people have many antibodies circulating in their bodies, but these antibodies are not able to eliminate the HIV virus. Therefore, the HIV vaccine should work differently from other types of vaccines available against the most common viruses.
One of the factors that make it difficult to create the HIV vaccine is the fact that the virus attacks the cell responsible for regulating the immune system, the CD4 T cell, which causes the uncontrolled production of antibodies. In addition, the HIV virus can undergo several changes and have different characteristics depending on the person. Therefore, even if the HIV vaccine is discovered, someone else can carry the modified virus, for example, and therefore the vaccine will have no effect.
Another factor that makes studies difficult is that the HIV virus is not aggressive in animals, so testing can only be done on monkeys (because it has a DNA very similar to humans) or in humans themselves. Monkey research is very expensive and has very strict rules for animal protection, which makes this research not always feasible, and in humans there is not much research that has passed the 2 times of studies, which corresponds to the phase in which the vaccine is located. administered to a greater number of people.
Learn more about the testing phases of the vaccine
In addition, several types of HIV have been identified with different characteristics, mainly related to the proteins that make up it. Therefore, due to diversity, it is difficult to make a universal vaccine, because the vaccine that can work for one type of HIV may not be as effective for another.