Abstract

The commonly accepted paradigm for the natural history of HIV disease has been an acute burst of virus replication followed by years of viral quiescence. A terminal phase of virus activity is accompanied by gradual immunologic failure. Recent studies of the tissue localization of HIV and developments in virus quantitation have prompted a revision of this model. Viral latency has been shown to be only a relative concept by the demonstration of virus accumulation in tissue sites during early disease and quantifiable circulating levels of virus throughout the course of HIV infection. The primacy of HIV infection in AIDS has been further reaffirmed by these studies, but new questions as to its pathogenic effects have been raised.