Nájera R, Herrera M I, de Andrés R
West J Med. 1987 Dec;147(6):702-8.
This paper summarizes the current knowledge on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and related retroviruses, describing basic characteristics of this new group of viruses such as morphologic and genetic structure, biological and cultural properties, virus growth characteristics, genetic variability and virus replication. The discovery of new human and simian retroviruses has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene a group of experts to establish criteria for their characterization. This will allow rapid identification of new variants that may arise and allow public health measures to be implemented accordingly. Different approaches are made to nomenclature in view of the evolution of knowledge about these viruses, and a system of nomenclature has been proposed by the WHO working group. This system, inspired by the one developed for the influenza viruses, is practical and descriptive, providing information on the origins of the organism and its type.
本文总结了目前关于人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）及相关逆转录病毒的知识，描述了这类新病毒组的基本特征，如形态学和基因结构、生物学和培养特性、病毒生长特征、基因变异性及病毒复制。新的人类和猿猴逆转录病毒的发现促使世界卫生组织（WHO）召集了一组专家来制定对其进行特征描述的标准。这将有助于快速识别可能出现的新变种，并据此实施公共卫生措施。鉴于对这些病毒认识的不断发展，人们采用了不同的命名方法，WHO工作组已提出了一个命名系统。该系统受为流感病毒开发的系统启发，既实用又具有描述性，能提供有关病毒起源及其类型的信息。
