Detected in human beings since 1981, the Acquired Self-Reference Syndrome (AIDS) still does not have a vaccine or a cure, despite several efforts from both the scientific and medical communities. But the question that remains is: why is there still no vaccine after more than forty years of this first case?
We heard from three experts who explain what causes this difficulty.
Virus has its own characteristics
Although the disease is caused by a virus, HIV, it is not possible to draw a parallel between it and the coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic and which had a vaccine developed in just over a year.
Jefferson Russo Victor, biomedical immunologist pointed out that in the 1980s the scientific community believed that a few years would be necessary for the development of a vaccine, but that the virus’ ability to mutate and multiply in the human body poses an unprecedented obstacle to development of an immunizing agent.
“Over the years, it has been possible to observe that HIV, unlike other viruses, does not induce an efficient and protective immune response in infected people. This undermines a basic principle of vaccine development which is to induce a ‘natural infection-like’ response so that people are protected. Differently from that, and in a completely unprecedented way, it was realized that an HIV vaccine should aim to induce a more efficient protective immune response than the disease itself, something that has not been achieved until today with any vaccine against any virus”, pointed out the Professor of Medicine at Universidade Santo Amaro, Unisa.
HIV Virus Attacks Defense System
Another difficulty is how the viruses attack the human body. Dr. Mirian Dal Ben Corradi, an infectious disease specialist at the Hospital Sírio-Libanês, explains that HIV attacks the defense cells and acts much more slowly, weakening the immune system. The new coronavirus, for example, is different. It enters through the lung and attacks various organs.
“The HIV virus infects and kills defense cells weakening the immune system much more slowly. It is a disease that does not kill because of it, but because of the immunodeficiency it causes. The new coronavirus, on the other hand, enters the body through the lungs and provokes an intense inflammatory response in some people, which causes lung, kidney, cardiac and neurological damage in a much more acute way”, he explained.
How do vaccines that are already under study work?
Despite the difficulty, several vaccines have been in testing for decades to finally work against the HIV virus.
Milton Monteiro, an infectious disease nurse explains that one of the biggest difficulties is to create antibodies capable of neutralizing the different strains of the virus and proteins that can stick at different points in the viral membrane.
“The idea behind the vaccine is to stimulate the body to create broadly neutralizing antibodies against different strains of the infectious agent. These proteins can attach themselves to different points on the viral membrane. In other words, it cannot have a specific focus, as with most covid-19 vaccines, which target the coronavirus S protein. During the initial research for this immunizing agent, the researchers are looking for a new approach to stimulate the production of rare immune cells in the volunteers’ bodies, which are fundamental for the process that will generate antibodies against the rapidly mutating virus”, he pointed out.
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