Harvard's HIV vaccine was initially successful on humans

The bodies of volunteers created an immune response against HIV after 4 times of HIV vaccination in 48 weeks.

This is the first time an HIV vaccine has had such a good response on the human body. A parallel trial in Rhesus monkeys showed that the protective effect of this HIV vaccine is up to 67% in HIV protection and treatment.

Vaccination - (Artwork from SHUTTERSTOCK).

Previously, there have been many studies on HIV vaccines, however, most of them are less effective. The most effective vaccine was previously tested in Thailand in 2009 but only reduced the risk of HIV infection and development by 31% - the effect was too low to be widely deployed.

According to Professor Dan Barouch, from Harvard Medical School (Harvard University - USA), the lead author of the study, he was "optimistic but cautious" with these new results.

The paper published in the journal Lancet said the team gathered nearly 400 volunteers from 12 hospitals in South and East Africa, Thailand and the United States. They were divided into 2 groups, one vaccine group, one placebo group.

The results showed that the body of those vaccinated with this HIV-1 vaccine reacted very positively, gradually repelling the disease after 48 weeks with 4 vaccinations. In order for it to be highly protective against many strains of HIV, the scientists combined elements of many different HIV viruses.

The team said they are heading for a large-scale clinical trial - the final stage before the vaccine is released to the market. 2,600 volunteers in South Africa have been gathered and ready for this test. Thereby, scientists can accurately determine the effectiveness of vaccines on humans as well as assessing its safety again.