Scientists Cautiously Optimistic About HIV Vaccine Candidate

[TexasTowelie]

There may be a glimmer of hope in the fight to protect people from HIV-1, the most widespread type of the virus and the one that causes the most disease globally.

A new vaccine appears to be safe and induced an immune response in humans and rhesus monkeys in an early stage trial, according to new research published Friday, July 6 in the journal The Lancet.

That means it’s safe enough to go into the next phase of testing, which involves a larger number of humans. It’s one of only five experimental HIV-1 vaccine concepts that have gotten this far during the 35 years of the HIV pandemic.

With 1.8 million new cases of human immunodeficiency virus every year, according to United Nations estimates, and almost 37 million people living with HIV worldwide, the quest for a vaccine has been urgent — and extremely difficult.

Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2018/07/scientists-cautiously-optimistic-about-hiv-vaccine-candidate/

[msongs]

1. will repubs will block its use in the USA? place yer bets nt

[thbobby]

2. I am skeptical

Humans do not have intrinsic immune system protection from HIV. In addition, HIV evolves so rapidly that even if a vaccine was effective, HIV will mutate and evade the protection.
I believe the only way to stop HIV is the genetic alteration of CD4 receptors on the cell surface. Gene editing sounds nice, but not advanced enough succeed in an in vivo setting. Perhaps a few thousand years of evolution will protect humans from HIV, but is little help to us today.