Smallpox Vaccine - HIV Protection

HIV Protection

Recent studies suggest that the smallpox vaccine provides some level of defense against HIV. Both the smallpox vaccine and HIV exploit a receptor called CCR5, which is expressed on the surface of white blood cells. Researchers theorize that one factor in the sudden spread of HIV in the early 1980s was the result of eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s, and the subsequent and abrupt decline in smallpox vaccinations worldwide.