Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PROSPECTS FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS, INTERVENTION, AND VACCINE DEVELOPMENT IN AIDS
AIDS. Etiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA, eds. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, p. 55-88, 1985.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/86616574 Fischinger PJ; Bolognesi DP; NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD
Abstract:
The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a new epidemic that continues to expand at a rapid rate without showing signs of ablation. Prospects for diagnostic tests, intervention, and vaccine development in AIDS are discussed under the following headings: disease states and mode of transmission, isolation of human T-cell leukemic virus Type III (HTLV-III) as the probable causative agent of AIDS, assays of detecting antibodies to HTLV-III, parameters of reliability of the diagnostic antibody test, assays for the presence of virus or its products, current assessment of the relationship of past infection by HTLV-III to prognosis, does HTLV-III fulfill the postulates of causality?, prospects for a vaccine against AIDS, prospects for treatment of AIDS based on viral involvement, immunologic processes associated with control of virus-associated disease (special consideration for HTLV-associated diseases), and possible approaches for treating patients with pre-AIDS or AIDS syndromes. The antiviral strategies discussed focus directly on measures that might safely and rapidly be applied to this highly lethal disease of international concern. Although AIDS seems not to be highly contagious and to require close and probably sexual contact, the rate of positivity within the known at-risk populations in the United States has reached staggering proportions. The diagnostic tests now in use are generally adequate to detect past exposure to HLTV-III by measuring the antibody response. The relatively high background rate of HTLV-III exposure in several equatorial African countries suggests that there must be many individuals who have been infected with HTLV-III but have either controlled or overcome the infection. Rapid tests do not as yet exist for the detection of virus-neutralizing antibody. A major concern is the expected continued expansion of the AIDS population. (128 Refs)
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*DIAGNOSIS/MICROBIOLOGY/ PREVENTION & CONTROL/THERAPY/TRANSMISSION Antibodies, Viral/*ANALYSIS Antigens, Viral/ANALYSIS DNA, Viral/ANALYSIS Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Human HTLV-BLV Viruses/GENETICS/*IMMUNOLOGY/ISOLATION & PURIF Primates Prognosis Vaccination *Viral Vaccines/THERAPEUTIC USE MONOGRAPH REVIEW
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
