The AIDS virus mutates differently in every area of the world, making it impossible to find a universal vaccine against HIV. So goes the latest findings regarding the efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine. After decades and billions of dollars in research funds for vaccine development, the scenario is bleak. It seems that vaccine for AIDS is more suited to fit the genetic profile of a patient. Think about it as personalized vaccine. So, of there are hundreds of millions of AIDS victims, it would be logical to say that there should also be as many types of AIDS vaccine.

Despite the efforts of numerous research groups around the world, the much-awaited AIDS vaccine remains elusive. This is corollary to another recent finding pointing to the manner by which HIV mutates and varies according to the dominant gene in each zone of the planet.

The road up ahead is decidedly still very long. The next step is to guide research towards the development of different sera that can be adapted to different regions of the world. Researchers will have to determine first how many vaccines will be needed to cover the genetic variability of the entire population. It’s really back to square one after decades of research.

The HIV virus is also said to be able to fool the immune system. Some strains of HIV are more aggressive because they manage to be invisible to the immune system. Depending on the genetic characteristics of populations in different regions of the world, the HIV virus can receive different immune responses and thus evolve differently. Research shows that some strains of HIV manage to become “invisible” to the immune system of infected persons. In such cases, the virus escapes the body’s natural defenses and grows at a faster speed.

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Via BBC