Vaccine could reduce HIV to 'minor infection'
Spanish scientists have developed a vaccine that shows positive results in the development of antibodies against the HIV Virus. The vaccine is called the MVA-B vaccine, and 22 of 24 study participants (92%) developed an immune response.
The Head Researcher at the National Biotech Centre in Madrid, Professor Mariano Esteban, stated: "It is like showing a picture of the HIV so that it is able to recognise it if it sees it again in the future."
The injection has four HIV genes that stimulate T and B lymphocytes. T cells destroy infected cells while B cells create antibodies that attack virions. Each lymphocyte is trained or programmed to fight a specific pathogen. This vaccine provides a means of training the body to fight the HIV virus, which has no known cure.
In the study, almost 75% of participants developed antibodies specific to HIV within 11 months of vaccination. All participants developed some form of T cells to fight HIV.
As stated before, 92% of participants developed an immune response. This is not equivalent to being fully protected from HIV, it is just an extra measure of protection that may or may not be sufficient.
Researchers hope to use the vaccine to test on people with HIV to see if it works as a "therapeutic" that reduces the viral count. They are optimistic because it has been proven to be as powerful or even more powerful than any other vaccine currently being developed. They believe that if the vaccine makes it through clinical trials and into production, the future HIV may be as minor as the herpes virus is today. This is to say that HIV could become a minor chronic infection that only manifests itself when the immune system is compromised.
There are other vaccines being researched. One, called the HIV-v vaccine has been developed by British scientists, and shows a 90% reduction in the viral count of HIV-infected individuals. Research has only been conducted on a small scale.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8794846/Vaccine-could-reduce-HIV-to-minor-infection.html
The Head Researcher at the National Biotech Centre in Madrid, Professor Mariano Esteban, stated: "It is like showing a picture of the HIV so that it is able to recognise it if it sees it again in the future."
The injection has four HIV genes that stimulate T and B lymphocytes. T cells destroy infected cells while B cells create antibodies that attack virions. Each lymphocyte is trained or programmed to fight a specific pathogen. This vaccine provides a means of training the body to fight the HIV virus, which has no known cure.
In the study, almost 75% of participants developed antibodies specific to HIV within 11 months of vaccination. All participants developed some form of T cells to fight HIV.
As stated before, 92% of participants developed an immune response. This is not equivalent to being fully protected from HIV, it is just an extra measure of protection that may or may not be sufficient.
Researchers hope to use the vaccine to test on people with HIV to see if it works as a "therapeutic" that reduces the viral count. They are optimistic because it has been proven to be as powerful or even more powerful than any other vaccine currently being developed. They believe that if the vaccine makes it through clinical trials and into production, the future HIV may be as minor as the herpes virus is today. This is to say that HIV could become a minor chronic infection that only manifests itself when the immune system is compromised.
There are other vaccines being researched. One, called the HIV-v vaccine has been developed by British scientists, and shows a 90% reduction in the viral count of HIV-infected individuals. Research has only been conducted on a small scale.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8794846/Vaccine-could-reduce-HIV-to-minor-infection.html
posted by Ali Senz at 3:19 PM
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