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HIV thirty years on

It has been thirty years since human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was first identified as the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) , a landmark discovery that has led to tremendous progress in understanding and combating infection by this life-threatening retrovirus. The most notable achievement during this time has been the development of antiretroviral therapies that substantially improve the quality and length of life in infected individuals. Nevertheless, to date neither a complete cure nor a protective vaccine have been found, and new infections continue to occur at a rate of 6850 people per day. In this cross-journal series, Retrovirology, BMC Medicine and BMC Biology take stock of where we are now, with a collection of articles that discuss different aspects of HIV infection, the progress made towards eradicating the virus, and the challenges of fundamental science and clinical management that remain. Selected research articles will be included in addition to invited reviews and comment.

  1. The HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB) epidemic remains a huge challenge to public health in resource-limited settings. Reducing the nearly 0.5 million deaths that result each year has been identified as a key p...

    Authors: Stephen D Lawn, Graeme Meintjes, Helen McIlleron, Anthony D Harries and Robin Wood
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2013 11:253
    Content type: Review Published on:

  5. The new field of viral dynamics, based on within-host modeling of viral infections, began with models of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but now includes many viral infections. Here we review developments ...

    Authors: Alan S Perelson and Ruy M Ribeiro
    Citation: BMC Biology 2013 11:96
    Content type: Review Published on:

  6. An HIV-1 diagnostic laboratory was established in the Academic Medical Center (AMC) of the University of Amsterdam after the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of the acquired immunod...

    Authors: Antoinette C van der Kuyl, Margreet Bakker, Suzanne Jurriaans, Nicole KT Back, Alexander O Pasternak, Marion Cornelissen and Ben Berkhout
    Citation: Retrovirology 2013 10:93
    Content type: Review Published on:

  7. Following US Food and Drugs Administration approval in July 2012 of daily oral tenofovir and emtricitabine for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection in high-risk individuals in the USA, ther...

    Authors: Jean-Michel Molina, Claire Pintado, Caroline Gatey, Diane Ponscarme, Pierre Charbonneau, Benedicte Loze, Willy Rozenbaum and Constance Delaugerre
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2013 11:186
    Content type: Review Published on:

  8. The HIV epidemic continues unabated, with no highly effective vaccine and no cure. Each new infection has significant economic, social and human costs and prevention efforts are now as great a priority as glob...

    Authors: Ravindra K Gupta, David A M C Van de Vijver, Sheetal Manicklal and Mark A Wainberg
    Citation: Retrovirology 2013 10:82
    Content type: Review Published on:

  9. The focus of most current HIV-1 vaccine development is on antibody-based approaches. This is because certain antibody responses correlated with protection from HIV-1 acquisition in the RV144 phase III trial, a...

    Authors: Torben Schiffner, Quentin J Sattentau and Lucy Dorrell
    Citation: Retrovirology 2013 10:72
    Content type: Review Published on:

  11. Combination antiretroviral therapy, despite being potent and life-prolonging, is not curative and does not eradicate HIV-1 infection since interruption of treatment inevitably results in a rapid rebound of vir...

    Authors: Carine Van Lint, Sophie Bouchat and Alessandro Marcello
    Citation: Retrovirology 2013 10:67
    Content type: Review Published on:

  12. Strategies for use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have traditionally focused on providing treatment to persons who stand to benefit immediately from initiating the therapy. There is global consensus that any ...

    Authors: Jens D Lundgren, Abdel G Babiker, Fred M Gordin, Álvaro H Borges and James D Neaton
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2013 11:148
    Content type: Debate Published on:

  13. The debate regarding ‘When to Start’ antiretroviral therapy has raged since the introduction of zidovudine in 1987. Based on the entry criteria for the original Burroughs Wellcome 002 study, the field has been...

    Authors: Ricardo A Franco and Michael S Saag
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2013 11:147
    Content type: Debate Published on:

  14. Lentiviruses have unusually long envelope (Env) cytoplasmic tails, longer than those of other retroviruses. Whereas the Env ectodomain has received much attention, the gp41 cytoplasmic tail (gp41-CT) is one of...

    Authors: Eveline Santos da Silva, Martin Mulinge and Danielle Perez Bercoff
    Citation: Retrovirology 2013 10:54
    Content type: Review Published on:

  18. Cellular immune responses play a crucial role in the control of viral replication in HIV-infected individuals. However, the virus succeeds in exploiting the immune system to its advantage and therefore, the ho...

    Authors: Marie Larsson, Esaki M Shankar, Karlhans F Che, Alireza Saeidi, Rada Ellegård, Muttiah Barathan, Vijayakumar Velu and Adeeba Kamarulzaman
    Citation: Retrovirology 2013 10:31
    Content type: Review Published on: