HIV vaccine becomes a reality, new hope for millions of people has come

American scientists have just announced positive HIV vaccine trial results , opening up prospects for preventing this dangerous virus. Research shows that the new vaccine can trigger antibodies to neutralize the HIV virus in just a few weeks.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the immune system, making the body vulnerable to infection. Although there are now effective drugs to control HIV, the virus is still the leading cause of death in areas lacking treatment. Therefore, an effective vaccine could save millions of lives worldwide.

Dr. Barton Haynes (Duke Vaccine Institute) - lead author of the study said: " This is an important step forward because it shows the ability to create antibodies capable of neutralizing the most difficult to control HIV strains . " However, he also emphasized that: " The next steps are to create more potent neutralizing antibodies that target other sites on HIV to prevent the virus from escaping. We are not there yet, but the way is The front is clearer ."

Experimental vaccines produce only small amounts of antibodies, but they are capable of fighting many different strains of HIV. These antibodies target an area on HIV's outer shell called the membrane proximal outer region (MPER) , which helps prevent the virus from entering cells.

The study was conducted on 20 healthy, HIV-negative people. 15 people received two doses and 5 people received three doses. The results showed that, after just two injections, participants showed strong immune activation. The team initially planned to test four doses but the trial was stopped after one participant experienced a non-life-threatening allergic reaction. Scientists think the allergic reaction may be due to an additive.

Lead author Dr. Wilton Williams, also from Duke University, said: " To have a broadly neutralizing antibody, a series of events takes place and usually takes several years after infection ." " The challenge has always been to reproduce the necessary events in a shorter period of time using vaccines," he said . "It's exciting to see that, with this vaccine molecule, we can actually create Neutralizing antibodies appear within weeks ."

Nearly 40 million adults worldwide are currently living with HIV . To create the most powerful vaccine, the team said it would be necessary to target multiple regions of the virus envelope and potentially attack at least three different parts of the virus. " Ultimately, we will need to attack all the vulnerable sites in the envelope so that the virus cannot escape," said Dr. Haynes. " But this study demonstrates that antibodies are broadly neutralizing can actually be induced in humans by vaccination ."