[Recent advances in HIV vaccine research and development--newly unearthed challenges]

Historically, vaccines have been among the most effective public health interventions, preventing the spread of viral infections. However, HIV vaccine has thus far been extremely elusive. The recent failure of the first T-cell vaccine has led to a reexamination of the direction of HIV-vaccine field. An empirical approach that has been successfully applied to many human viruses appears not effective for HIV. Re-examination has pointed to a need to emphasize fundamental questions of HIV vaccine discovery. In particular, recent advances in the study on the earliest phase of HIV-1 infection unearthed novel challenges for HIV vaccine development.