Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Globally, more than 2000 children under 15 years of age are infected with HIV-1 every day. Some of these infections occur in utero, but the majority of children become infected at delivery and after birth through breast-feeding. While success of antiretroviral therapy dramatically decreased mother-to-child transmission in developed countries, antiretroviral drugs are not yet widely available and bottle-feeding is not an option in economically impoverished countries, where burden of HIV-1 infections is the highest. There, effective accessible HIV-1 vaccines limiting spread of HIV-1 in adults and preventing infection of neonates through breast-feeding are urgently needed. For infant vaccines, given the difficulties in inducing widely cross-reactive HIV-1-neutralizing antibodies, effort has now shifted towards elicitation of cell-mediated immunity, likely in a combination with passively infused neutralizing antibodies and/or chemoprophylaxis. This review discusses prospects of the T-cell approach for development of a paediatric HIV-1 vaccine.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Folia Biol (Praha)

Publication Date

2004

Volume

50

Pages

100 - 106

Keywords

AIDS Vaccines, Female, HIV Infections, HIV-1, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical, Pregnancy, T-Lymphocytes