AIDS Vaccines

Worldwide, the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has already infected 10 million to 15 million people. With an estimated 5000 to 10 000 new infections occurring each day, 30 million to 40 million people will be infected by the year 2000. 1 In developing countries, where more than 80% of new infections are occurring, the virus is predominantly transmitted heterosexually and is broadly dispersed in general populations. Vaccines that will prevent HIV-1 disease and abrogate virus transmission must be viewed as critical components of a comprehensive public health strategy designed to combat the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and slow the global spread of HIV-1 infection. See also p 475. Although most effective viral vaccines are based on either live attenuated (eg, measles) or inactivated (eg, influenza) virus products, research strategies for HIV-1 vaccine development have focused primarily on the viral envelope glycoproteins gp 120 and gp 160. This focus