HIV Infection and Immunization against Other Agents

The pandemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections has raised many questions about medical and social practices. Specific issues regarding appropriate policies for immunization of individuals and populations at risk for HIV infections are raised in a report in this issue by Redfield et al.¹ The authors describe a military recruit with an asymptomatic HIV infection who became symptomatic and had disseminated vaccinia infection with delayed healing after receiving the customary battery of immunizations during basic training. However, the questions posed in the discussion seem more alarming than appears warranted on the basis of available data: (1) Could multiple immunizations….