AIDS vaccines inch closer to useful existence

Abstract

CANDIDATE vaccines for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are now being tested for safety and immunogenicity in several clinical trials in the United States and abroad. Notwithstanding the formidable host of factors that militate against development of an effective prophylactic for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a growing number of researchers are hopeful about eventual success. Under the aegis of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) or another governmental agency, investigators are working at more than a dozen academic medical centers, most as part of NIAID's National Cooperative Vaccine Development Groups or Vaccine Evaluation Units. The vaccines that are described herein have all been tested in animals— most in monkeys and some in chimpanzees—and found to be safe and immunogenic to some degree against HIV. Only two so far have been found to protect against infection. The urgent need for an AIDS vaccine has accelerated their movement