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New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

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Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#32

OK this sounds fantastic, but is it going to be another case of an expert dropping in on this thread and going "Ah, 100s of these come out every month. It's promising but nowhere near human trials yet."

We don't need an expert even - pre-clinical is a far ways off even if successful.

This is in the "interesting advancement" stage, not "promising treatment."

Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#33
post #3

While HIV vaccine research is an exciting field, it's worth pointing out that halting HIV transmission is, practically speaking, a solved problem with oral and injectable reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The ongoing loss of life and health due to HIV could be stopped if we cared enough to invest resources in wide-scale PrEP availability and public health education. Waiting for an HIV vaccine is the domain equivalent…

It is endemic in the simian population. It will keep crossing over into humans again and again. It has done it before several times. People who live near forests would have to be on Prep everyday of their lives. The reason they eat bushmeat is the because they are poor and will be too poor to afford daily medication. A once-and-done vaccine would at least stop new crossovers. Only then could we really get a handle on ending this disease world-wide.

Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#34
post #3

While HIV vaccine research is an exciting field, it's worth pointing out that halting HIV transmission is, practically speaking, a solved problem with oral and injectable reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The ongoing loss of life and health due to HIV could be stopped if we cared enough to invest resources in wide-scale PrEP availability and public health education. Waiting for an HIV vaccine is the domain equivalent…

It's a problem that was "solved" long before that by just wearing a condom and protecting yourself against other diseases too, and even pregnancy. Condoms are cheap, widely available and decades of condom-related education has been given out to many different generation of kids and adults worldwide.

Somehow we still need day after pills, abortions, antibiotics and other STD meds, and vaccines, now (hopefully) for HIV too.

Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#35
post #22

The most interesting point of the article for me is that this vaccine appears to be a series of shots which act as a curriculum for the immune system. Each one slightly different and targeting a different stage of B-cell development. I've never thought of vaccine series working like that, so it was a new and impressive idea.

All vaccines are training data for the immune system, which is a learning machine whose operation is a little bit like a genetic algorithm. It generates and sieves variation using a vocabulary of pre-encoded building blocks to fit the targets it's presented with. It's an incredible system, and a product of probably a billion years of evolution since the first multicellular organisms had to protect themselves from inf…

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Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#36
post #27
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cost and compliance are still 2 major factors that have not been solved. We also have education and stigma. While within the LGBT community it is far more common to be open about status and taking prep and doxy (far from perfect though), it still feels like outside of that the conversations are not happening as much as they should. Throw in doctors that are not being proactive about the conversation. Right now it see…

PReP has some side effects. While they are rare, they are things you need to be aware of. If you are not doing risky sex it isn't for you. Most people want to believe they are in a monogamous relationship and thus not having risky sex - even though they are the one cheating. Either PReP needs to be more common, are people need to stop their risky sex activities (that they are not even admitting to).

> If you are not doing risky sex it isn't for you.

That blanket statement I very much disagree with. Sure there are side effects but that is part of why you also get tested every 3 months for liver issues (not that it is the only side effect, but still).

Instead of it being a blanket statement it should be a conversation with your doctor about the pros and cons.

You can still get HIV even if not engaging in risky behavior. Same with people getting pregnant when they did not intend too.

I am thinking college kids that are still figuring out their sexuality and exploring new things. You're going to make mistakes so having a conversation about prep with your doctor is a really good idea.

Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#37
post #3

While HIV vaccine research is an exciting field, it's worth pointing out that halting HIV transmission is, practically speaking, a solved problem with oral and injectable reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The ongoing loss of life and health due to HIV could be stopped if we cared enough to invest resources in wide-scale PrEP availability and public health education. Waiting for an HIV vaccine is the domain equivalent…

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Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a solved problem if you are someone that knows you'll be exposed to HIV in the very near future and you have the money and wherewithal to purchase PrEP before that event (and you can plan the event 7 days out). The power of a vaccine is you can give it to adults and kids before they are sexually active and protect them, potentially, for the rest of their lives. I'd also be curious to know if the combination of A…

This is completely inaccurate. There is PrEP that requires dosing two times a year. You can also get PEP if you engage in a risky activity without PrEP.

That PrEP is in some ways similar to a vaccine, and there is still a lot of value in getting a better vaccine (cheaper and/or lasting longer).

Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#39
post #36
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PReP has some side effects. While they are rare, they are things you need to be aware of. If you are not doing risky sex it isn't for you. Most people want to believe they are in a monogamous relationship and thus not having risky sex - even though they are the one cheating. Either PReP needs to be more common, are people need to stop their risky sex activities (that they are not even admitting to).

> If you are not doing risky sex it isn't for you. That blanket statement I very much disagree with. Sure there are side effects but that is part of why you also get tested every 3 months for liver issues (not that it is the only side effect, but still). Instead of it being a blanket statement it should be a conversation with your doctor about the pros and cons. You can still get HIV even if not engaging in risky beh…

I don't see how you are disagreeing. We are both saying that a lot more people are having risky sex than think they are.

Re: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

#40
post #3

While HIV vaccine research is an exciting field, it's worth pointing out that halting HIV transmission is, practically speaking, a solved problem with oral and injectable reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The ongoing loss of life and health due to HIV could be stopped if we cared enough to invest resources in wide-scale PrEP availability and public health education. Waiting for an HIV vaccine is the domain equivalent…

It's a solved problem if you are someone that knows you'll be exposed to HIV in the very near future and you have the money and wherewithal to purchase PrEP before that event (and you can plan the event 7 days out). The power of a vaccine is you can give it to adults and kids before they are sexually active and protect them, potentially, for the rest of their lives. I'd also be curious to know if the combination of A…

Ad-hoc use of PrEP just requires that you take a double dose 1 hour prior to potential exposure, and follow up with another double dose 24 hours later, at least with the versions commonly prescribed to sexually active groups in my area.

I agree that a vaccine is another game-changer, but it’s extremely important that we don’t spread misinformation about the efficacy and convenience of PrEP. In developed societies, it has already all but eliminated new transmissions among groups that were previously most at risk.

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