Uganda: HIV Vaccine a Decade Away
By, New Vision (Kampala), February 20, 2007
A successful HIV vaccine is at least a decade away, the International Aids Vaccine Initiative for Southern Africa (IAVI) said recently.
"A vaccine is at least a decade away. In the event of the Merck vaccine hitting the bar, it will happen earlier," said Dr Wayne Koff, senior vice-president of the IAVI, in Johannesburg, recently.
The Merck vaccine was developed by American company Merck. It is called MRKAd5 and hailed as a "historic milestone in the fight against Aids".
The vaccine will soon enter its final stages of study - trials involving about 3,500 HIV negative male and female volunteers - which will last four years.
MRKAd5 uses the vector Ad5, an element of the vaccine modified by a harmless virus meant to stimulate cellular immune response in the body. Ad5 causes common cold.
An ideal vaccination would be to block HIV early, when it enters the body. A second goal, for which most scientists are aiming, is to control and slow down the progress of the disease, said Koff.
He said the best vaccines are those where weaker forms of the virus are used - called live attenuated vaccines - but this proves difficult with the human immune virus. "This virus is very smart; every time you try to weaken it in the lab, it changes right back to the wild virus it was," Koff added.
IAVI is a global non-profit organisation working to speed up the search for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and Aids.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200702210466.html
A successful HIV vaccine is at least a decade away, the International Aids Vaccine Initiative for Southern Africa (IAVI) said recently.
"A vaccine is at least a decade away. In the event of the Merck vaccine hitting the bar, it will happen earlier," said Dr Wayne Koff, senior vice-president of the IAVI, in Johannesburg, recently.
The Merck vaccine was developed by American company Merck. It is called MRKAd5 and hailed as a "historic milestone in the fight against Aids".
The vaccine will soon enter its final stages of study - trials involving about 3,500 HIV negative male and female volunteers - which will last four years.
MRKAd5 uses the vector Ad5, an element of the vaccine modified by a harmless virus meant to stimulate cellular immune response in the body. Ad5 causes common cold.
An ideal vaccination would be to block HIV early, when it enters the body. A second goal, for which most scientists are aiming, is to control and slow down the progress of the disease, said Koff.
He said the best vaccines are those where weaker forms of the virus are used - called live attenuated vaccines - but this proves difficult with the human immune virus. "This virus is very smart; every time you try to weaken it in the lab, it changes right back to the wild virus it was," Koff added.
IAVI is a global non-profit organisation working to speed up the search for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and Aids.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200702210466.html
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 2:10 pm
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