Normally, the use of the word "vaccine" in one of my posts would usually presage my bringing up yet another chunk of anti-vax woo being expounded by someone else jumping on that crowded bandwagon of idiots (for example, see the bizarre nonsense from Louie Gohmert, below), but not today.
From scienceblog.com:
Sumagen Canada Inc and Western University announced today that the Phase I Clinical Trial (SAV CT 01) of the first and only preventative HIV vaccine based on a genetically modified killed whole virus (SAV001-H) has been successfully completed with no adverse effects in all patients (emphasis mine). Antibody production was also boosted after vaccination.
Being a realist on this issue, I realize that this hardly a well-deserved death knell for HIV/AIDS; only a completely giddy optimist would believe that. But it's a promising start, for reasons that Medical Daily lays out here:
Since the virus was characterized in 1983, pharmaceutical companies and
academic institutions around the world have attempted, yet consistently
failed, to develop a vaccine. What is unique about (Dr. Chil-Yong) Kang’s vaccine is its
use of a killed-whole HIV-1, which is similar to the vaccines developed
for polio, influenza, and rabies. HIV-1 is also genetically engineered;
this raises its safety profile and the possibility of it being produced
in large quantities.
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