AIDS Vaccine Fails In Thailand

[dArKeR]

An experimental AIDS vaccine tested in Thailand on some 2,500 drug users failed to protect them from becoming infected with HIV, the vaccine's developer said Wednesday.

The poor results were widely expected since VaxGen Inc. had said earlier that its vaccine did not work in a larger North American study.

Most AIDS researchers agree that vaccines will be the only effective way to control a virus that has killed 28 million people and infected 42 million more worldwide.

Two-dozen other vaccines are being tested on 12,000 human volunteers, but none has advanced as far as VaxGen's, and any successful candidate is years away.

Officials at Brisbane, Calif.-based VaxGen said the Thai results underscored again how wily AIDS is in thwarting the immune system.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/19/health/main574306.shtml

[Avalux]

1. Sadly

A successful vaccine for HIV will never happen. I've been in the field long enough to know; the virus is too damn variable.

[Beetwasher]

3. That's Not What I Hear

I know plenty of researchers who are more optimistic than you are...

[NickB79]

6. And thats why, 25 yrs after HIV started to spread like wildfire

We now have a working vacci..... Oh wait, sorry, spoke too soon. There were optimistic researchers during the Reagan term talking about having a vaccine ready shortly, over 15 yrs ago, but that didnt make them correct. I'm not gonna hold my breathe.

[bluestateguy]

2. I'm sure the religious right is cheering today

They applaud the spread of AIDS and they regard it as "God's judgement" against gay people.

[dofus]

4. The AIDS virus seems to mutate

as frequently and as readily as the flu viruses do. They've figured out how to make a flu vaccine, but it needs to be updated every single year. And I don't know if anyone is seriously working on a cold virus, nor whether the cold viruses mutate, but in any case there are so many of them (from several hundred to several thousand) that a single vaccine to protect against all doesn't seem entirely feasible.

[NickB79]

5. Faster than the flu by an order of magnitude

Or more. Imagine being revaccinated every month for HIV, or every week?