During 1995, there were a few provocative findings about the way HIV reproduces and survives. In January, two groups reported that HIV reproduces and is cleared from the body at higher rates than previously suspected. The immune system is able to keep pace with the virus through the first years of the infection but is finally overpowered. This leads to questions about why the immune system seems to be unable to permanently control the virus, and some light was shed on this issue in June with reports that infection with HIV-2 sometimes protects people against contracting HIV-1. HIV-2 can still cause AIDS, but it is a comparatively milder version of HIV because HIV-2 binds less tightly to the HIV receptor on immune cells. It is thought that HIV-2 infection alerts T cells in the immune system to guard against proteins shared by the two strains of the virus. Once the proteins which stimulate the immune response have been identified, researchers may be able to insert them into the appropriate genes to develop a safe live vaccine. The ability of some kinds of natural exposure to HIV to prompt a permanent immune response is given credence by the fact that some prostitutes who were repeatedly exposed to HIV-1 and HIV-2 showed no HIV antibodies although their T cells killed cells bearing key HIV proteins.
AIDS breakthrough in 1995. Publishing Authors By Initials
