SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

HIV vaccine shows promise in human trial [bbc.com]

An HIV vaccine that has the potential to protect people around the world from the virus has shown promising results.

The treatment, which aims to provide immunity against various strains of the virus, produced an anti-HIV immune system response in tests on 393 people, a study in the Lancet found [thelancet.com] [DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31364-3] [DX [doi.org]]. It also protected some monkeys from a virus that is similar to HIV. More testing is now needed to determine if the immune response produced can prevent HIV infection in people.

[...] Nevertheless, the promising results of the study mean researchers will next test the treatment on 2,600 women in southern Africa who are at risk of getting the illness - one of only five vaccines to make it to this stage of so-called efficacy trials. Only one vaccine has ever shown evidence of protecting against HIV. A vaccine tested in Thailand lowered the rate of human infection by 31%, but the effect was considered too low to advance it to common use.

Also at The Lancet [sciencedaily.com], CNN [cnn.com], and Engadget [engadget.com].

See also: A new step towards an HIV/AIDS vaccine [thelancet.com] (DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31548-4) (DX [doi.org])

Original Submission