A combination of two HIV vaccines reduced the risk of infection by almost one-third in a large trial in Thailand, the trial sponsor announced today. It is the first proof that a vaccine against HIV can protect against infection, but scientists say a lot more research will be needed before a vaccine emerges that can be given to large numbers of people.
“This is a historic day in the 26-year quest to develop an AIDS vaccine,” said Dr Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.
"This is the first HIV vaccine candidate to successfully reduce the risk of HIV infection in humans. We are very excited and pleased with the outcome of this trial and congratulate all those who participated in it," said Lieutenant General Eric Schoomaker, Surgeon General, U.S. Army, the trial sponsor.
The trial, called RV 144, compared a regimen of vaccination with two products against vaccinations with a dummy, inactive substance in 16,000 adults enrolled since 2003.
Participants received an initial set of vaccinations with ALVAC, and follow-up booster vaccinations with AIDSVAX, a product previously tested in large trials without evidence of success.
The presence of AIDSVAX in the vaccination regimen was one reason why many vaccine experts had not expected the trial to show a positive result.
In the event, the prime boost combination of ALVAC(R) HIV and AIDSVAX(R) B/E lowered the rate of HIV infection by 31.2% compared with placebo.
In the final analysis, 74 placebo recipients became infected with HIV compared to 51 in the vaccine regimen arm. The efficacy result is statistically significant. The vaccine regimen had no effect on the amount of virus in the blood of volunteers who became HIV-infected during the study.
More detailed results of this study will be presented next month at the AIDS Vaccine Conference, October 19 through 22 in Paris, France.
The vaccine products used in the study will not go forward for immediate licensing. Instead, the results from the study, which was considered to be a 'proof of concept' trial, will be used to inform the design of future vaccine trials.
Collaborating partners on this study include the U.S. Army, the Thai Ministry of Public Health, the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, sanofi pasteur (the developer of ALVAC), and Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases (GSID), the current developer of AIDSVAX. The collaborators are already working with external experts to determine the need for additional studies on this vaccine regimen and consider the impact of this study’s findings on other HIV vaccine candidates.
This article was first published by NAM/Aidsmap.com and is republished with permission.
Further information
See aidsmap.com's guide to The search for an AIDS vaccine for further information and background information.
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I'm sure a full out vaccine will be discovered someday, & we should all actively take part in the search by fulfilling the fundamentals - donate towards the HIV research.
And of course, this ain't meaning we can go about sleeping about!
To a better world! =)
LOL
LOL
Your perspective ain't exactly all that fair.
i suppose the writer didnt really get what he wrote.
seem like he doesnt know what is vaccine and what is antibody.
maybe he thought vaccine = antibody.
vaccine is something contained antigen, wholly or partly, from the organism which caused the disease we wanna prevent of.
for example, chicken pox vaccine contained inactivated chicken pox viruses, work as antigen, when injected to body will stimulate our body to fight it by producing specific antibody against this antigen, so after then, when the real chicken pox infects, our body will remember this virus, as antigen, and the antibodies that's already circulated in our body will immediately fight the infection and resulted as very mild symptoms, even totally immuned and have no symptom at all
so, injected vaccine doesnt mean injected antibody
so i suppose the statement should be "...discovered a pair of powerful new vaccines/antigens to HIV..."
University of Texas researchers recently published a promising study suggesting that Way #1 is possible. If we can find out the inherent weakness in the HIV's gene, we could design a drug that targets at this weakness. As for the #2 Possibility, the use of electricity and a more stable form of silver should be studied. A US patent had been awarded for the use of electricity to sterilize blood. Silver is a powerful antiviral metal, but it may easily react with chloride in our body. So research should be done into how a more stable form of silver could be made and introduced into our bloodstream to achieve the same purpose of killing HIV. Also, genetic engineering is another promising field.
Before any vaccine or cure is found, it's important for HIV-carriers to sustain optimism. The government and the society should play a greater role to support them. Of course, prevention is better than cure. More awareness about HIV should be raised among the teens-to-25 group, the most at-risk one.
However, with the commercialization of advanced imaging technologies such as MRI, screening will become more affordable in especially developed countries such as Singapore. Some even toy with the theoretically possible use of MRI to screen the entire body.
Now, when this becomes economically feasible, and as long as we do the screening regularly, most cancers could be detected really early, when it's least fatal. So it means that beside those with genetic cancers or those whose immune system has been impaired as are HIV-carriers, cancers could be much less fatal than they are today.
Similarly, most fatal heart diseases and stroke could be detected early too. This means that the 3 biggest causes of death could be detected early when early detection becomes economically feasible as a result of economies of scale and productivity growth.
Pneumonia, of which flu is a major cause, and which causes around 1 in 10 deaths, as we know, could be vaccinated. So, in fact, more than 50% of the current leading causes of death in the developed world--- which had solved the problem of access to clean water and food long ago--- could be either vaccinated or detected early. We already have the technologies. The only problem is economic.
Ultimately, if this possible future scenario materializes, what's left would be our immune system. This virus impairs our immune system. If we don't control its spread, it will negate all our success with the above mentioned diseases.
16,000 people participated. Say that half of the people received the placebo, the other half received the vaccine treatment, making it 8,000 people.
Does that mean that 68.8 percent, about 5,500 people still got AIDS after the vaccine treatment?
The header does have some truth, then. That a vaccine for AIDS is still a long way off. However, considering the wondrous 31.2 percent, I would read through the entirety of the report being presented on October 19-22.
Though currently my brain is in over-imagination mode thinking that the 31.2 percent is going to turn rabid like the population in 'I Am Legend'.
this is great, all the money spend on condom production can be used towards vaccination instead.
This notion is advocated by the fundamentalists who assert that HIV is a punishment from some superhuman for immorality (not practicing abstinence and monogamy, and 'unnatural sex'). Hence, their stance is to condemn such immorality, which is what you are doing, as if it works, and as if casual sex is the main cause of HIV infection among MSM. But let's look at the facts:
A U.S. Congress-commissioned national study concludes the failure of abstinence-only sex education. ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041301003.html ). Recently, research shows also that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most gays DO NOT get HIV infection from casual partners. Instead, over 50% of HIV transmissions in US gay men are from MAIN SEX PARTNERS, investigators report in a study published in the online edition of AIDS. ( http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/F78E0E2B-3B46-445F-909D-FEB6AFF6CA30.asp ).
So, it's really disturbing that many in our community are still doing the same as those self-righteous fundamentalists do, condemning those who choose not to be monogamous. But in reality it's those who assume that being more 'moral' and holier-than-the-rest would make them safer who are at high risk. They assume that having a monogamous relationship gives them the right to forget about condoms. They thought that they would be blessed by being more moral.
But to quote the above-referenced article, "The majority of HIV transmissions (68%) were estimated to be from main partners, with 32% thought to be from casual partners. This trend was observed in all age groups."
It's indeed disappointing that despite the inclusion of science in school curricula worldwide ignorance is still common. HIV is a virus. There are certain means through which this virus can spread. To be specific, the virus is not intelligent enough to spare you simply because you practice monogamy. Neither can it swim better through a correctly used, properly manufactured condom simply because the user is having sex with a casual partner. HIV is not David Copperfield. It is neither a private detective.
majority of HIV positive are coming from gays and men or women prostitutes.
i myself is promiscuous simply because i'm single and really aware and have what if's in every steps that i'm into...
please # 23 shorten your comments..no offense please
Reference:
The majority of HIV transmissions (68%) were estimated to be from main partners, with 32% thought to be from casual partners. This trend was observed in all age groups.
( http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/F78E0E2B-3B46-445F-909D-FEB6AFF6CA30.asp )
"HIV is your choice..if you want HIV have sex with dif people you don't even know......"
I guess the the total cure, cheap and affordable one, is found in the stem cells or blood of queer people.
Whatever has taken place in the spiritual realm will be manifested in the physical realm. The blood of Queer Jesus has defeated the devil in the spiritual realm 2000 years ago. Therefore since by the blood of Jesus the whole world is saved from sin, the stem cells or blood of queer people will be a blessing too, even for heterosexuals. Claim this promise of healing in the mighty name of Queer Jesus! Let the spiritual blessing and physical healing be manifested in the physical realm.
The religious people ban abortion and gay marriage. The former leads to the cure of HIV and the latter is concerned with God's holy ordinance/ promise for His beloved queer people.
I guess the devil uses the religious people to halt embryolic stem cell research, because it is a breakthrough, where the root of sexuality is found there, and also the complete immunization/ cure of HIV through this research (perhaps through the stem cells or blood of queer people). But devil uses HIV to lead people into thinking that the blood of homosexuals is dirty, and uses religion to distract us from the right direction of research.
have a nice day.
a very good start for mankind
LET'S US CELEBRATE THIS SPLENDID MOMENT... CHEERS!!!
It says exactely how many people got infected, 74 in the placebo group, and 51 in the vaccine group. The difference between the two group is 31%, that is the number of infection "prevented" by the vaccine...
http://www.layscience.net/node/640
"We have a result that is barely statistically significant, using a vaccine comprised of two components previously shown not to work, a methodology heavily criticised by a galaxy of experts in a joint letter to Science, and quirks in the results which would be consistent with the vaccine not working."
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