Dual vaccine holds hope for fight against HIV
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.SCIENTISTS STUDYING Aids believe they have made a breakthrough in the 10-year quest to find a vaccine against HIV.
However, the development was marred by a discovery by a second team of researchers, who found that HIV can lie dormant for a lifetime.
A team led by Harriet Robinson, chief of microbiology at Yerkes Regional Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia, found that a combination of two types of vaccine can protect monkeys against HIV.
Although the vaccine does not protect the monkeys against infection - the aim of conventional immunisation - it appears to limit the virus's ability to replicate within the body.
"This holds promise for the development of a vaccine capable of seriously reducing viral replication and thus stemming the transmission of Aids," Dr Robinson said.
The three-year research project experimented with several types of vaccines and two different ways of delivering them to the immune system.
Dr Robinson found the most successful approach was first to "prime" the immune system with a vaccine based on the genetic material of a hybrid virus created from HIV and SIV, the simian immunodeficiency virus.
The next stage was to inject a vaccine made from incorporating parts of the hybrid virus into a pox virus, which can invade the monkey's cells but does not proliferate.
Results of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, show that the vaccine successfully limited the replication of the virus when it was injected three times over a 62-week period.
The scientists were unable to detect the virus in the blood of vaccinated animals, in contrast to unvaccinated monkeys.
Although the findings are promising for vaccine development, other research indicates that it will be practically impossible to eliminate HIV totally from an infected person.
Scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have found that HIV can evade anti-Aids drugs by hiding in a dormant state for years within cells of the immune system.
"This doesn't mean that a cure for HIV is impossible, but it is an obstacle. And it emphasises that patients need to stay on their medication, possibly for the rest of their lives," said Robert Siliciano, a senior Aids researcher at Johns Hopkins.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments