Why is there a vaccine against FIV (which causes the cat version of AIDS) but not against HIV?

Answer 1

Because they are different viruses that behave differnetly. HIV mutates itself everytime it reproduces, thus making it exceedingly difficult to vaccinate agasint.

Answer 2

Vaccination works by training the immune system to recognize some protein components of the virus, usually surface coat proteins. In the case of HIV this is difficult because the virus mutates unusually quickly so that its surface coat proteins are constantly changing and thus evade immune recognition.

Answer 3

vaccines are simply a weakened or dead version of the disease. these alert the helper T cells of their presence. the helper T cells then tell the immune system to produce antibodies to attack the foreign invader. however, for human HIV, the HIV virus attacks the helper T cells. without the helper T cells, the immune system is never aware of the foreign invader, rendering vaccines useless.

Answer 4

Veterinarians are more competent than HIV researchers. Perhaps it is not competence. Perhaps the reason is that the rewards are greater for HIV medical professionals.