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June 11, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“HIV Vaccine Would Owe Debt to Local Volunteers”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (www.stltoday.com) (06/09/03) P. A1; Shelton, Deborah L.

Hundreds of St. Louis-area residents are participating in a HIV vaccine trial at the St. Louis University School of Medicine.  With at least 16,000 people contracting HIV every day, the need for a preventative vaccine against the disease is urgent.  The university has already tested over 24 candidate vaccines, and more than 800 HIV-negative area residents have volunteered for the trials.  Recent data points to little difference between one candidate vaccine and a placebo; however, the small number of African Americans involved in the trial appeared to show some success, highlighting the need to recruit both women and minorities for clinical trials.