In the midst of the tiny leap for HIV/AIDS research, with the 30 percent effective HIV vaccine, there is even more promising news for HIV/AIDS sufferers. According to The Washington Post, more people who need antiretroviral drugs in developing countries have been getting them, or at least 42 percent of them.
However, as the Post and other news sources point out, the virus is infecting faster than those with the virus are being cured. In fact, “for every three people starting therapy, five become infected,” according to the Post.
There has been a great improvement though, and hopefully with a more effective vaccine in the future there will be more success. At least the antiretroviral drugs can help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS to others and minimize the harmful effects on those with HIV/AIDS, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Even with the possibility of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, there are still so many people who will have to suffer if a fully successful vaccine isn’t created.
Fortunately, research is always ongoing. For example, as of late August there has been a call for HIV-negative gay men to enroll into a new HIV vaccine study, according to the Bay Area Reporter and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The study is specifically called the HVTN 505 study, and it is looking to test if those who have the vaccine and become infected later will have a reduced amount of the virus in their blood, according to the NIAID Web site. I guess the researchers are assuming that at least some of the 1,350 gay men in the study will contract the virus later in life.
Anyway, the study is for a good cause, and gay men between the ages of 18 and 45 are wanted. One of the main concerns for many is whether the vaccine will infect the men with HIV, but this is not true. It is assured to be completely safe.
The study is a collaboration between three groups, including NIAID’s Division of AIDS and its Vaccine Research Center, as well as the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. The official site is www.hopetakesaction.org.
One fishy thing about the study, at least to me, is that the vaccines include three HIV genes. However, the site insists that no one can get the virus from the vaccine.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093004884.html
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5402a1.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/30/MNE519VD1H.DTL
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=4218
http://www.hopetakesaction.org/
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/QA/HVTN505qa.htm
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2009/HVTN505.htm