[Vaccination against the human immunodeficiency virus]

Much progress has been made in recent years in the development of anti-VIH vaccines. Nearly 20 such vaccines have reached phase 1 clinical study in seronegative volunteers. The responses invoked by these vaccines are, however, mediocre, both in quality (lack of cross over neutralisation in isolated "wild" viruses) and in their levels and length of action. New formulations of vaccines are under study, but their development is long and difficult, and researchers are still disarmed by the problem of the variability of the virus. Several years of study, both clinical and fundamental, will be necessary before an effective vaccine against HIV-1 is available.