The immune response during acute HIV-1 infection

The early immune response to HIV-1 infection is likely to be an important factor in determining the clinical course of disease. Recently, the finding that the first effective immune responses drive the selection of virus escape mutations provides insight into the earliest immune responses against the transmitted virus and their contributions to the control of acute viraemia. Strong innate and adaptive immune responses occur subsequently, but they are too late to eliminate the infection. Recent studies on the kinetics and quality of early immune responses to HIV-1 and their implications for developing a successful preventive HIV-1 vaccine are reviewed in this article. Key words: HIV-1; Acute infection; Immune responses