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A strain of lymphadenopathy associated retrovirus ( LAV ) passaged in vitro was used to infect a lymphoblastoid cell line obtained by transformation with Epstein-Barr virus of B lymphocytes from a healthy donor. The virus produced from this line (B- LAV ) was also able to grow at a high rate in some other lymphoblastoid lines and in a Burkitt lymphoma line. This adapted strain retained the biochemical, ultrastructural, and antigenic characteristics of the original strain, as well as its tropism for normal T4+ lymphocytes. It is thus possible to grow LAV in large quantities that can be used for the preparation of diagnostic reagents. The interaction between such a human retrovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, a DNA virus, may have some implication for the pathology of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and related diseases.

Both preventive and therapeutic vaccine programs provided substantial benefit, but their relative merit depended on which outcome measures were assessed. Evaluation of HIV vaccine programs based solely on cases averted or on prevalence of HIV in the population underestimates the benefit associated with therapeutic vaccine programs. The effect of a therapeutic HIV vaccine on the epidemic outcomes depended markedly on whether the therapeutic vaccine reduced the infectivity of the vaccine recipient. The relative merits of preventive and therapeutic vaccines depend on the stage of the epidemic. Field vaccine trials should evaluate correlates of infectivity, such as HIV viral load. HIV vaccine implementation strategies should be tailored to the dynamics of the epidemic in specific populations.

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