One virulent foe

CEBU, Philippines - The world needs safe, effective and affordable preventive AIDS vaccines. However, making such vaccines has proved extremely difficult,” this was confirmed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in a report entitled “Progress on the path toward an AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) vaccine.”

IAVI said that HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the most difficult foe vaccinologists have taken on.

“Not only has it developed multiple mechanisms to avoid detection and elimination by the body’s immune response, but many different subtypes of the virus, known as clades, circulate in different regions of the world,” this was learned.

According to IAVI, within these clades there is considerable variability and that, so far, researchers have not been able to design a vaccine capable of protecting people from all the variants.

“Despite these challenges, researchers have recently made encouraging progress toward an HIV vaccine,” it somehow consoled the public.

A clinical trial, for example, was completed in Thailand in 2009. Such provided the first demonstration in humans that a vaccine can “prevent HIV infection.” In a soft document, it was further learned that two AIDS vaccine candidates, given a few months apart in a so-called prime-boost combination, were found to be about 30 percent effective at “preventing infection with HIV.”

“This result, while too modest to support regulatory approval for the vaccine regimen, has generated considerable excitement within the research field,” IAVI shared.

“Researchers around the world have been working collaboratively to extract as much information as possible from the Thai trial data to inform future AIDS vaccine development,” it added.

“One analysis of this data indicated that two particular immune responses were significantly correlated with the HIV infection rate in vaccine recipients. Whether these immune responses are essential for achieving a protective effect with this or other HIV vaccine candidates needs to be confirmed in further studies, though.

“Two additional efficacy trials based on this vaccine candidate are also being planned in Thailand and South Africa – the latter study will test the ability of the candidate to recognize a different sub-type of HIV,” IAVI stressed.

As for our Department of Health, it collaborates with the Philippine National Aids Council to deepen awareness on the availability of counseling and HIV testing services at established social hygiene clinics in the country.

In an HIV campaign material, DOH and PNAC emphasized: “Kung positive, may tutulong sa ‘yo. Kung negative, may magagawa ka pa para makaiwas.”

A checklist on risky behaviors may help a person determine (and then decide) if he or she needs to submit to a test: unprotected sex with multiple partners; partner who has had casual sex with other unprotected partner/s; intercourse with commercial sex worker/s; male-to-male sex; having had sexually transmitted infection/s; sharing of needles; transfused with contaminated blood.

For those found negative of HIV, they still are urged to continue observing religiously the ABCDE. This stands for “Abstain from sex. Be faithful to your partner. Consistently use condoms. Do not use illegal drugs. Educate yourself.”

World without AIDS

Since it was first identified as the cause of AIDS in 1983, HIV has taken nearly 30 million lives, the IAVI report also read.

“An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV, and each day an additional 7,000 become infected with the virus.”

IAVI said that current responses to the pandemic have proved unequal to the challenged posed by HIV: For every person who gains access to antiretroviral drugs today, two are newly infected by the virus.

Some of the disheartening cases are those found to have had transfusion using contaminated blood.

However, those living with the infection continue to hope against hope. Anyway, as illustrated by the scientific advances of recent years, the long-term investments that have been made in HIV vaccine development are showing distinct promise today.

IAVI even stressed that this hard-won momentum must be sustained. “In the long run, continued progress in the field will depend on existing and novel funding mechanisms for AIDS vaccine research and development. It will also require the continued commitment and active support of governments, researchers, civil society and the communities in which the research is conducted.”