Experts believe that we are not going to be able to treat [our] way out of this HIV/AIDS epidemic, but we are ultimately going to need a vaccine to shut it down.
This has continued to inspire them to come up with a vaccine that could provide strong protection to the disease and thus a vaccine that would be tested in South Africa later in 2016. INFORMATION NIGERIA brings you 6 things you should know about it.
1.According to CNN, a vaccine against HIV will be trialed in South Africa in November 2016 after meeting the criteria needed to prove it could help fight the epidemic in Africa.
2.The reports says a small trial, known as HVTN100, took place in South Africa in 2015 to test the safety and strength of immunity the vaccine could provide, ahead of any larger-scale testing in affected populations.
3.It added that the vaccine stems from a landmark trial in Thailand in 2009 that was the first to show any protection against HIV, with 31% protection against the virus. This was enough to get experts in the field excited after years with no success.
4.That the vaccine was improved for use in the higher-risk populations of sub-Saharan Africa, where a different subtype of the virus also exists. A new component was also introduced to stimulate stronger immunity, known as an adjuvant.
5.It says alos that four criteria were set as measures of its likely effectiveness, including the level of T-cell and antibody response to fight the virus if it were to infect and researchers say “It gives the tick on all four, it does look promising and it should launch.”
6. Lastly, that a larger-scale trial of the vaccine will now begin in 5,400 people across four sites in South Africa in November 2016 and run for three years. A fifth dose of the vaccine will also be given in hope of longer-lasting protection.
