Thai vaccine cuts HIV infection 31-percent

(NECN/ABC) – The results of an experimental AIDS vaccine were considered groundbreaking, but more work remained as it only had limited success thus far. “It has some, although albeit modest, results, some very encouraging results that can be used to guide further efforts in vaccine development,” Maureen Birmingham of the World Health Organization said. Some 16,000 volunteers in Thailand were given the vaccine, or a placebo. Then these volunteers were tracked for three years. “What they did was take two vaccines that had been tested before that did not work and found when they combine them as a one-two punch, they reduced HIV infection,” Dr. Richard Besser said. After 20 years of failed AIDS vaccine trials, the results were as stunning as they were welcome. This vaccine, developed in partnership with the Thai government, the U.S. Army and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, cut HIV infection by 31 percent. “This is the first that we can prove that a vaccine can be developed to prevent infection among the vaccinees, which is the first stepping stone for further vaccine development,” Dr. Supachai Rerks-Ngarm, director of the AIDS vaccine trial, said. A true vaccine may be years away, in part because this one may only work on the HIV strain seen in Thailand. With 7,500 people throughout the world infected by this virus each day, the race for a vaccine continues. Researchers now turn their attention to finding out if this vaccine inoculates against other strains in the world. ABC’s Viviana Hurtado reports.