HIV vaccine clinical trials leave scientists "cautiously satisfied"



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Scientists are cautiously optimistic after an HIV vaccine trial showed promising results in initial human trials.

A study published in the medical journal The Lancet examined the effects of the vaccine in subjects tested from 12 HIV clinics in East Africa, South Africa, Thailand, and other countries. United States.

It produced an anti-HIV immune system response in 393 people

was administered with placebo

All vaccine recipients responded by producing some form of immune response against HIV during testing.

A parallel study by researchers tested vaccine strains on rhesus monkeys for resistance to simian-human immunodeficiency virus, an HIV-like disease that affects monkeys.

The most effective vaccine combination 67% of the monkeys used in the trial against the virus.

As the tests were found to be conclusive, a second series of trials is underway on a group of 2,600 women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Dan H Barouch, principal investigator of the study and professor at Harvard Medical School, said he was "satisfied" with the research, but insisted that the results be treated with caution.

"I would say that we are satisfied with these data so far, but we must interpret the data with caution," he told CNN.

"We must recognize that developing a vaccine HIV is an unprecedented challenge, and we will not know for sure whether this vaccine will protect humans. "

Nearly 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV or AIDS, more than two million of whom are

According to UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS, an estimated 1.8 million people worldwide become newly infected with the virus each year – roughly 5,000 new cases every day.

Although HIV treatments have become exponentially better since the disease was officially identified in the early 1980s, a vaccine has proved elusive.

Prep, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, can prevent HIV being transferred sexually between partners, with experts suggesting it could prevent one in four cases.

However, the drug must be taken regularly, unlike a vaccine, in order to prevent the user contracting the virus.

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