New Research “HIV Conquers Immune System Faster Than Previously Realized”

DURHAM, N.C. – New research into the earliest events occurring immediately upon infection with HIV-I shows that the virus deals a stunning blow to the immune system earlier than was previously understood. According to scientists at Duke University Medical Center, this suggests the window of opportunity for successful intervention may be only a matter of days – not weeks – after transmission, as researchers had previously believed.

Appearing in the August issue of the Journal of Virology, the finding may make the challenge of designing an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine appear daunting. But researchers say the study has also yielded a blueprint for what a successful vaccine should like, and moreover, when such a vaccine would need to work.

Until now, scientists believed that the window of opportunity to intervene in the process of HIV-1 infection lay in the three to four weeks between transmission and the development of an established pool of infected CD4 T cells. HIV-1 cripples the immune system by invading and killing CD4 T cells, key infection-fighters in the body. Read the full story from the source.