Vaccination and HIV: a review of the literature

People with HIV are at risk for a variety of infections both at home and abroad. Recent studies have reported conflicting data concerning potential harmful effects following several inactivated vaccines. Antigenic stimulation by vaccines designed to prevent secondary infections may promote HIV-1 replication in certain patients. In HIV-positive subjects, immune response worsens with progression of the HIV infection. When vaccination is considered, administration of the vaccine must be performed as early as possible in the course of HIV infection because an HIV-infected patient's response to inactivated vaccines is closely related to HIV infection stage. A minority of subjects have a protective antibody response to vaccination. Consequently, specific antibody titers should be measured after vaccination to ensure immune protection. Immune response is improved by highly active antiretroviral therapy. Some live attenuated vaccines are considered as beneficial in some specific indications and if administered in the early stages of AIDS. However, viral load variations following administration of live attenuated vaccines have not been studied yet.