The Possibility of an HIV Vaccine
This past Sunday, December 1st, was World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day is an annual, global day to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, mourn those we’ve lost to AIDS complications, and recognize the medical advancements we’ve made since HIV’s emergence. While I’ve previously written on the advancements currently available to us, this column will be about the potential future of an HIV vaccine.
HIV is a complex virus. It took us several years from first noticing its presence in the United States to understand how it was transmitted between people. It also took us over a decade to develop ART (antiretroviral therapy), the current medication we have for HIV. PrEP and PEP did not become available to the public until 2012, around 30 years after AIDS first emerged in the U.S. Now, it’s been over 40 years since the first cases of HIV in the U.S., and scientists are working towards an HIV vaccine. However, there’s been a number of barriers to developing one.
As HIV infects someone, it integrates itself into a person’s DNA genome. This makes it impossible for your immune system to recognize HIV as a separate virus and fight it. This means that vaccine trials that utilize T cells, a type of white blood cell, have not been effective.
Vaccines traditionally use a live attenuated virus, or a copy of the virus it’s meant to attack; this copy of the virus is weakened to the point that it is harmless. This is not an option for the HIV vaccine, as even a weakened virus might integrate itself into a person’s DNA.
The emergence of mRNA vaccination technology was initially promising, but because HIV has many clades, or subgroups, it is difficult to isolate a single protein (which mRNA uses) to combat all subgroups.
This in mind, some technology seems promising. Scientists are now researching the efficacy of a vaccine that utilizes monoclonal antibodies. These are synthetic antibodies that have shown to be highly effective at preventing HIV infection. However, these antibodies don’t last forever. As of now, even the strongest antibodies would need to be re-administered every six months to maintain immunity.
You can read more about the future possibility of an HIV vaccine here.