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Secret AIDS Vaccine?

One in 5 American adults holds the groundless belief that there is a vaccine for HIV/AIDS but it is being kept secret.

Quote: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said his agency plans to boost education efforts "to help correct misconceptions and advance public understanding of ongoing and future HIV vaccine research."

Our Comment: One in 5 American adults probably also believe in aliens.

For additional information please visit the following MedicineNet.com areas:

• AIDS Vaccine Fails to Prevent HIV Infection
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the HIV/AIDS Center
• Focus Topics on HIV/AIDS, edited by Eric Daar, M.D., active contributor and author of several Doctor's Views focused on current issues regarding AIDS/HIV. Dr. Darr is also the Director of the Division of HIV Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Barbara K. Hecht, Ph.D.
Frederick Hecht, M.D.
Medical Editors, MedicineNet.com

Many think AIDS vaccine here, but kept secret

Last Updated: 2003-05-16 13:04:56 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A full 20 percent of American adults share the mistaken belief that a vaccine for HIV/AIDS already exists but is being kept from the public, according to a new government survey.

Ignorance of the slow rate of progress in the development of an AIDS vaccine is rampant among U.S. citizens, the survey finds, and is especially high among black and Hispanic populations, which have been hit hardest by the disease.

The national survey of 3,500 individuals was conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which for decades has funded research into the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS.

NIAID director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said his agency plans to boost education efforts "to help correct misconceptions and advance public understanding of ongoing and future HIV vaccine research."

According to the survey, Americans remain fully committed to finding an effective vaccine.

Eighty-four percent of Americans rate HIV/AIDS vaccine research as either "extremely" or "very" important. This number is even higher among minority populations at highest risk for HIV, with 96 percent of black Americans and 94 percent of Hispanics agreeing that the quest for a vaccine is of paramount importance.

However many also believe that a vaccine already exists, but is being kept "secret" from patients and the general public. According to the survey, one in five Americans subscribe to this view, with that number rising to 28 percent and 48 percent of Hispanic and African-American respondents, respectively.

Other troubling statistics emerged. Vaccine research is a long, slow process, with potential drugs requiring testing first in the lab and in animals before moving on to human trials, which can then take years. However, 42 percent of those interviewed did not know that vaccines required any testing on human volunteers before being made available to the public.

Nearly a third of survey respondents also believe -- erroneously -- that prospective vaccines can actually cause HIV infection in human test subjects. Another 44 percent were unsure about whether or not vaccines might be dangerous in this way. Such misconceptions could hamper recruitment of volunteers for clinical trials, experts say.

"HIV vaccine research is our best hope, along with other prevention and treatment efforts, to slow the spread of HIV," Fauci stressed in a NIAID statement.

According to NIAID, in the U.S. alone, studies into promising AIDS vaccines are underway in over 60 different medical research centers, with more than 12,000 individuals participating in these types of trials worldwide.

In the meantime, HIV/AIDS continues its deadly spread. Over 900,000 Americans are now living with HIV, with 38.6 million infected worldwide. Most of the world's HIV-positive individuals now live in poorer countries where patients lack access to expensive, life-extending medications.

NIAID, in cooperation with nearly 100 U.S. organizations, is declaring this Sunday May 18th HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. Capitalizing on the familiar symbol of the red AIDS ribbon, organizers are asking that concerned Americans wear the ribbon upside-down on that day, so that it forms a "V" for vaccine.

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