Jack the Club

Thursday, September 24, 2009

HIV Vaccine May Have Been Found

Posted by Jack The Club at 9/24/2009

According to an Associated Press report, a new vaccine cut the risk of contracting HIV by more than 31 percent in the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers from Bangkok said Thursday (September 24).

While it's still not full-proof, "it's the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine," Col. Jerome Kim, who helped lead the study for the U.S. Army, told the AP.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also warned that the vaccine is "not the end of the road," but said he was surprised and very pleased by the outcome.

"It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result" he continued. "This is something that we can do."

The U.N. agency, UNAIDS, estimates that 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV on a daily basis. Two million died of the disease in 2007. So, even with a vaccine that could partially protect against it, a lot of lives could be saved.

The Thailand Ministry of Public Health conducted the study, using strains of HIV common in Thailand. Scientists stressed that it's still unknow whether such a vaccine would work against other strains in other countries.

"This is a scientific breakthrough," Thai Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said. "For the first time ever there is evidence that HIV vaccine has preventative efficacy."