Dar es Salaam. The complex nature of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been named as one of reasons that scientists have struggled to develop its vaccine
since the pandemic burst onto the scene nearly four decades ago.This comes on the heels of efforts for Covid-19 vaccines development globally leaving many questioning why scientists have taken longer to find one for HIV/Aids.
The Citizen has learnt that one of the reasons lies in the complex nature of the HIV virus. In particular, this includes the remarkable HIV strain diversity and the immune evasion strategies of the virus.
According to National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) head for HIV and Reproductive Health Research, Dr Lucas Maganga, the HIV virus is not just one virus but there is a complex diversity and genetic variations among many strains.
“The virus replicates so fast and in the process it makes so much errors resulting into many viral mutations, the mutant viruses can recombine with other strains during infection making many more recombinant virus. Hence, developing a vaccine that is able to target all viral strains and recombinant viruses remains a huge challenge,” he said.
Dr Maganga said vaccine development was a very costly and complicated procedure that needed huge investments, however, the health community was optimistic with the current bio-technology developments.
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