Recent studies have shown that new information concerning immune responses may provide new leads for creating a vaccine to protect people from HIV infections.
The new RV144 trial, first reported in 2009, focuses on the immune responses that are related to protecting the body against HIV. This study demonstrates the initial signal of whether an HIV vaccine is effective: there should be a 31 percent decrease in HIV infection in people receiving the vaccines.
Since the study, there has been an international research consortium to identify molecular clues about why the vaccine had this small protective effect.
The report highlights that various kinds of immune responses may be needed to provoke a fight against HIV, which the vaccine needs to trigger to protect the body.
The end results from the study promise an encouraging future for HIV vaccine development. The authors concluded that creating a momentum and series of targets for the immune system may promote an effective effort for scientists around the world to create an HIV vaccine.
The study authors included Lawrence Corey from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
