Last 18 May, World AIDS Vaccine Day,
the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) declared that the world may soon
have a vaccine to prevent HIV infections.
UNAIDS cited new developments
following the results of a 2009 trial in Thailand--RV144--which showed a
31.2% vaccine efficacy in preventing HIV infections.
While the results were
"modestly protective," they nonetheless represented a significant
scientific advance, and were the first demonstration that a vaccine can prevent
HIV infection in a general adult population. This discovery has been followed
by more encouraging data in the following years.
UNAIDS and the US Centers for
Disease Control worked closely with modelling teams to estimate the impact of
the RV 144 regimen in different countries and with different populations and
found that 10% of infections could be prevented if the same 31% efficacy was
found in people who receive the vaccine.
Although a vaccine may not provide
the magic bullet to end the AIDS epidemic, it would provide an additional tool
to add to the package of HIV prevention optione that are currently
available.
Trials are now planned to see if an
RV-144-like regimen will protect against a strain of HIV infection found in
South Africa against HIV acquisition by people at higher risk of exposure,
especially men who have sex with men.
However, HIV vaccine funding has
been declining since 2008 until 2011, putting into question the prospects for
developing an HIV vaccine in the near future. In the meantime, over 34 million
people are living with HIV, and every day more than 7000 people are becoming
infected with the virus.
Read the UNAIDS Feature Story,
"The quest for an HIV vaccine" at:
http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2012/may/20120518vaccinesday/
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