HIV Cure News in 2016 - Updates: Trials for New HIV Vacccine in South Africa to Start Later This Year
Promising new HIV vaccine may be the cure to stop spread of deadly virus in South African regions.
Latest HIV cure news in 2016 revealed a promising new HIV vaccine to be tested in South Africa later this year. The said vaccine was able to meet standards that proves that it could be effective in fighting the virus epidemic in the continent.
According to the latest count, as of 2015 there were around 2.1 million new HIV infections reported. To note that two-thirds of all these infections were from the sub-Saharan African region.
Initial Testing in South Africa
In 2015, testing for the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine called HVTN100 was done in South Africa. This was to determine if this vaccine could provide the strength needed to lauch on a larger scale. 252 healthy volunteers were part of the project. A number of volunteers received the ALVAC-HIV/gp120 while others received a placebo; this was done to compare the immune response that the volunteers presented. The result of this 2015 study were presented in the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.
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Promising Results Led to Full Trial
Linda Gall Bekker, president-elect of the International AIDS Society and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre in Cape Town, South Africa said, "This was precautionary to see if the vaccine looks promising." Bekker is also leading the vaccine trials later this year.
The ALVAC-HIV vaccine is actually from a trial conducted in Thailand in 2009. The trial resulted with a 31% protection against the virus which was very promising after years of little or no success at all in HIV cure studies.
Vaccine will face new virus subtype in the region
Researchers are faced with a number of questions as the vaccine trial draws near. Aside from wondering if the vaccine can be improved to cover a larger region and better potency, they are also facing a sub-saharan African population where a different virus subtype exists.
But the team is ready to take on these challenges. Gail Bekker explained that the vaccine was developed with specific inserts from viruses that came from this region. A component known as an adjuvant was introduced to boost immunity of the vaccine. The researchers also set four criteria to measure the effectiveness of the vaccine including T-cell levels and antibody response to fight the virus in case it infects cells.
Trials start November 2016
A trial will start in South Africa in November 2016 which will begin with 5,400 people. This trial will run for three years wherein a fifth dose of the vaccine will be given to improve protection. The 2015 Thai trial started with a resounding 61% success but dropped to 31% by the end of the study. The researchers want to reach 60% and remain in that level. They are positive that with the adjuvant added in the vaccine, protection can be maintained throughout the final period.
Vaccine is HIV cure
Gail Bekker also mentioned that HIV cure is through a vaccine along with a number of preventing measures, treatment regimens and social interventions that are already in use. "I don't think we are going to treat [our] way out of this epidemic," she added. "We are ultimately going to need a vaccine to shut it down."
