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Researchers have made progress in the search for an HIV vaccine. In experiments, monkeys could be protected from HIV infection with the drug – and humans have also shown an immune response.
Scientists have made important progress in the search for an HIV vaccine. An active substance has produced an immune response in humans and protected the monkeys from infection, reports the newspaper "The Lancet". The next step is to test the drug on 2,600 women in South Africa.
"The results are promising, but we must remain cautious," says medical professor Dan Barouch of Harvard University. The data did not prove that humans could be protected from HIV by the vaccine.
In a laboratory study, 72 monkeys received an injection of the active substance and an HIV-like virus. Two-thirds of the animals were thus completely protected against infection by the vaccine.
Human trials enter the next phase
Barouch and his team also studied 393 healthy adults aged 18 to 50 from East Africa, South Africa, Thailand and the United States. Part of the group received the active substance, the remaining participants received only one placebo. Medical professor Barouch said the drug "triggered strong immune responses in humans."
The drug also caused side effects in some participants – five of them complained of stomach upset and diarrhea, dizziness or back pain. As a result, vaccine research is now moving to the next phase: the drug will be injected to 2,600 women in South Africa to see if it can actually prevent AIDS. The results are expected in 2021/2022.
Finding an AIDS vaccine is extremely difficult because the avian influenza virus is highly adaptive. Globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 37 million people are infected with HIV or already living with AIDS. Each year, about 1.8 million people newly infected with the virus, which destroys the body's immune system. About one million people die each year from its consequences.
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