AIDS vaccines inch closer to useful existence

Article Abstract:

A number of vaccines for the AIDS virus (human immunodeficiency virus or HIV) are being developed, and human testing is already beginning even though animal experimentation has not been thoroughly completed. Many of the vaccines are being geared to induce an immune response to proteins found on the outer shell of HIV. One of the vaccines being studied, VaxSyn HIV-1, is geared toward the gp160 protein. So far, it has proven safe in human trials, but its effectiveness has not been established. It is also being tested in subjects who are already infected with HIV as a possible immunotherapeutic agent. Another vaccine specific for the gp160 protein is Immuno-Ag. It is unusual in that its three-dimensional structure is the same as natural gp160. Immuno-Ag has been very effective in protecting animals exposed to HIV after vaccination, and human trials are now being prepared. A number of vaccines specific for the gp120 protein have also been developed. They are being tested both as vaccines and as immunotherapeutic agents. In California, a vaccine known as HGP-30, which is specific for the core protein p17, is being readied for human testing. A major problem with vaccines geared toward HIV is that HIV mutates quickly. However, it is thought that the core proteins mutate less quickly than the outer proteins. Jonas Salk is studying the use of whole, killed HIV in the hopes that it will produce an immune response that will kill infected cells rather than attack free virus. A number of similar studies are underway in other countries. Once these limited trials are completed, large scale studies will be required. It will be difficult to decide where the studies should begin and in which populations. The World Health Organization (WHO) is now working on this problem and is establishing guidelines to be used for these studies. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Social policy, HIV infection, HIV infections, AIDS vaccines, editorial, World Health Organization. Global Program on AIDS

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'Critical moment' at hand in HIV/AIDS pandemic, new global strategy to arrest its spread proposed

Article Abstract:

The report AIDS in the World 1992, which was written by the Global AIDS Policy Coalition based in Boston, details the spread of the AIDS epidemic and what the global community must do to stop it. In 1992, 12.9 million people worldwide are infected with HIV and 2.5 million have died of AIDS. Almost four million will develop AIDS within the next three years, more than all who have developed AIDS since it was first reported. The disease has been reported from virtually every continent, including the Pacific islands of Fiji and Samoa. Treatment of AIDS is very expensive, and only industrialized countries can afford it. The coalition recommends that reports of effective treatments be disseminated worldwide, that research on a vaccine be expanded, and that societies all over the globe deal with the social and economic discrimination that faces those with HIV infection and AIDS.

Reports, Harvard University. School of Public Health

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