HIV vaccine trial was significant

October 20, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

news.bbc.co.uk

A review of a trial of a HIV vaccine in Thailand has concluded that it does show real signs of a protective effect.

Scientists announced last month that a combination of vaccines gave a 31% level of protection in trials among 16,000 heterosexuals aged 18-30.

Doubts had been raised about whether the finding was significant.

But new data published at a conference in Paris indicates that, while small scale, the findings are robust and statistically significant.

However, the scientists say they do not understand what is causing the effect, and it seems to offer less protection to those most at risk.

Despite these drawbacks, Colonel Nelson Michael from the US military HIV research program it is still a small step in the right direction.

He said: “It’s important that people understand that this is a scientific advance, a scientific breakthrough.

“It is not a public health breakthrough; there is not a vaccine that is around the corner.

“We now, after 26 years of trying, believe that we can go down that road with confidence that we will be able to develop a vaccine that is globally effective.”

Doubts raised

Despite their initial joy when the first results from the Thai trial were announced, many scientists were concerned that the protective effect was very small.

Among the 8,000 of so who got the vaccine, 51 became infected with the virus.

Among those who received a placebo, 74 got the infection.

However, the trials sponsors, the US military and the Thai government said the 31.2% protective effect was statistically significant and real.

As more data slowly emerged some scientists began to have doubts about how robust this effect really was.

When those who had not taken all their vaccines were excluded from the trial the numbers lost their statistical power.

Many experts were concerned that the data had not been subject to a rigorous examination by other scientists. Read full article…