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Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

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Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#71

Post by smn »

joshklein wrote: post #11

My father is an infectious disease specialist who has spent the last 30 or so years working on HIV in research, patient treatment, and education. The following thought comes from my casual conversations with him, and probably does not represent his professional opinion. It certainly does not reflect his specific thoughts in regards to this trial, as we haven't yet discussed it. The progress in treating HIV since it f…

Just to confirm this, at work (http://github.com/praekelt & http://praekeltfoundation.org) this exactly the problem we are up against in Africa.

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#72

Post by erikpukinskis »

eli wrote: post #55
scott_s wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused by the statement that a vaccine would not be a game changer in terms of worldwide infection. Right now, the only way to reliably prevent HIV infection is through changing behavior , which is extremely difficult. But widespread use of a vaccine would just require a one-time injection, which is relatively easier. I'm further confused by your polio reference, because that sort of effort would only be possib…

Actually, circumcision is a proven way to reduce infection rates that doesn't involve behavior. Though, as one might imagine, it can be a tough sell in cultures where that isn't the norm.

Only amongst people who don't use condoms.

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#73

Post by JVerstry »

scarmig wrote: post #39
JVerstry wrote: post #14

Many in the scientific community claim there is no evidence HIV is actually causing AIDS. Hence, even if this is a successful vaccine, there is no guarantee it will protect from AIDS.

This is both scientifically inaccurate and potentially murderous. Rejecting science when it comes to things like evolution is an annoying tic, but whatever. What you're saying, though, is a stance that's literally killing millions of people in Africa. Before you say these things lightly, think about it for a few minutes.

Two answers to your post:

i) Here is a recent analysis of existing evidence: http://hivskeptic.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/hiv-has-never-bee....

ii) A prize of $100.000 "was officially offered to anybody who would demonstrate HIV particles in the blood of allegedly high viral load patients". It has not been claimed yet.

So far, there is ground for a reasonable scientific doubt regarding claiming that HIV causes AIDS. The accumulated evidence is not conclusive unfortunately.

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#74

Post by desigooner »

rdl wrote: post #41
joshklein wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EDIT: I actually meant smallpox when I was talking about polio. That's a big error; corrected it above. Thanks rdl. I should have been more specific - I meant that if we did develop a vaccine, then it makes following the [smallpox] example theoretically possible, but this is still extremely challenging due to the reasons given. Although you and I might have the vaccine, not everyone has it - not by a long shot - beca…

You may be thinking of smallpox, which exists in one or two declared labs (and probably a few more black labs). Polio is unfortunately still "in the wild" in certain areas (Afghanistan/Pakistan/India, Sub-Saharan Africa), and had a bit of a resurgence lately. The Gates Foundation is putting a lot of effort into finishing up polio eradication. Relevant TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/bruce_aylward_how_we_ll_stop_po…

FYI, there has been only 1 reported case of Polio in India this year (since January). It might be that time when Polio is finally eradicated from India

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/09/polio-in-india-g...

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#75

Post by AndyKelley »

eli wrote: post #55
scott_s wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused by the statement that a vaccine would not be a game changer in terms of worldwide infection. Right now, the only way to reliably prevent HIV infection is through changing behavior , which is extremely difficult. But widespread use of a vaccine would just require a one-time injection, which is relatively easier. I'm further confused by your polio reference, because that sort of effort would only be possib…

Actually, circumcision is a proven way to reduce infection rates that doesn't involve behavior. Though, as one might imagine, it can be a tough sell in cultures where that isn't the norm.

This guy presents a fair scientific examination of whether to circumcise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2gloq-prkA

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#76

Post by spp »

rflrob wrote: post #56
byoung2 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't this be more of a temporary problem? As soon as there is a vaccine its patents will expire at least 20 years afterwards. And then lots of much cheaper vaccines will flood the market. I think his point is that much of the problem of preventing the spread of HIV has less to do with the science of killing the virus, and more to do with the difficulty of actually getting it in the hands of people who need it. T…

Proof of that is the fact that we can't even get water to all of these people. Not sure how good an analogy this is. I suspect it would be moderately expensive (i.e. on the order of a few billion dollars), but possible to deliver a liter of clean water to nearly everyone in the developing world. The problem is, that solves their water problem for about 12 hours, if you're being generous. Solving their problem long te…

In the context of this discussion, I believe "a few billion dollars" would be pretty cheap.

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#77

Post by bitwize »

shin_lao wrote: post #3
grannyg00se wrote: post #2

"if this genetic cocktail passes Phase II and Phase III future clinic trials, and makes it into production, in the future HIV could be compared to herpes virus nowadays". As far as I know there is no herpes vaccine and herpes stays with you for life resulting in recurring problems. Doesn't quite sound like a very flattering comparison to an effective vaccine solution.

Chickenpox is a form of herpes and we all have it. What matters is that it's harmless.

It's not harmless and there is a varicella vaccine now. (There wasn't when I was a kid.)

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#78

Post by brendn »

eli wrote: post #55
scott_s wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused by the statement that a vaccine would not be a game changer in terms of worldwide infection. Right now, the only way to reliably prevent HIV infection is through changing behavior , which is extremely difficult. But widespread use of a vaccine would just require a one-time injection, which is relatively easier. I'm further confused by your polio reference, because that sort of effort would only be possib…

Actually, circumcision is a proven way to reduce infection rates that doesn't involve behavior. Though, as one might imagine, it can be a tough sell in cultures where that isn't the norm.

Then why does the USA have the highest rate of circumcision and also the highest rate of HIV infection of developed countries? I don't think the claim holds up under scrutiny here.

[EDIT: wording]

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#79

Post by grannyg00se »

scarmig wrote: post #40
grannyg00se wrote: post #2

"if this genetic cocktail passes Phase II and Phase III future clinic trials, and makes it into production, in the future HIV could be compared to herpes virus nowadays". As far as I know there is no herpes vaccine and herpes stays with you for life resulting in recurring problems. Doesn't quite sound like a very flattering comparison to an effective vaccine solution.

Ask anyone who has HIV whether they'd trade it for herpes.

That's not the comparison being made. It's not HIV vs herpes - it's HIV with a highly successful vaccine available vs herpes, which has no vaccine.

Re: Promising HIV vaccine passes phase one human trials with 90% success rate

#80

Post by geebee »

brendn wrote: post #78
eli wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, circumcision is a proven way to reduce infection rates that doesn't involve behavior. Though, as one might imagine, it can be a tough sell in cultures where that isn't the norm.

Then why does the USA have the highest rate of circumcision and also the highest rate of HIV infection of developed countries? I don't think the claim holds up under scrutiny here. [EDIT: wording]

Actually, this is a reasonable observation. But it actually does make sense.

My understanding is that many (all?) of these studies have been conducted in sub-Saharan africa. The environment in which AIDS spreads may be very different in developed countries. The presence of secondary infections, unhygienic conditions, and other social norms may play a big role in the spread of aids and greatly amplify the protection that circumcision provides. The evidence does look compelling.

Now, if the infection rate is already low, secondary STDs are rare, hygiene is at a very high standard, and transmission vectors are different, then the effects might be much less pronounced. I suspect it would be hard to create a controlled study of this in Europe, since you'd have to convince a large number of men who are probably in a very low risk group to be circumcised.

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