How does the immune response in acute HIV infection determine clinical outcome?
Background Despite intensive research and millions of dollars of investment there is still no HIV vaccine. The immune response to HIV infection in the weeks following transmission is believed to be a key determinant of long-term clinical outcome and progression to AIDS. Until recently few data were available on early infection due to the difficulties of recruiting large cohorts of acutely infected patients – seroconverters. Due to the impact of structures such as CHAVI and the Wellcome-funded SPARTAC trial there is now a growing body of related literature. It is now generally believed that HLA Class I responses in acute infection are more narrow and targeted than those of chronic infection. It is also clear that HIV is adapting to avoid the human immune response very early in infection – possibly within weeks. From two cohorts, collectively of over 300 acute seroconverters, we sample cells and plasma over the first three years of infection. This project will use viral sequence informat
