'Breakthrough' Thai HIV vaccine trials controversy

Abstract

For the first time ever we know that an HIV vaccine is possible.
That’s the significance of the surprise findings in September’s 16 000 person trial in Thailand (the much-maligned RV 144 trial), which showed a 31% reduction in infection risk among participants, say two thrilled top South African researchers.
Professor Glenda Gray, head of the perinatal HIV Research Unit at Witwatersrand University says the efficacy of the combination prime-boost vaccine, ‘paves the way for future designs – it’s exciting because it means that a vaccine is attainable’.
She and fellow researchers like Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Director of the Centre for the Aids Program of Research of South Africa, (CAPRISA), experience the result as a boost for sagging morale after so many failed trials.