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July 12, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"'Scary' Case Raises Doubts for HIV Vaccine"

Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) (07/11/02) P. B1; Schoofs, Mark

Casting doubt on the possibility of finding an HIV vaccine is the case of a Boston man whose immune system suppressed HIV for several months without medication, but the man subsequently had unprotected sex and acquired a new strain of the virus that his body could not fight.  Although some research suggests that Merck's HIV vaccine could be effective against multiple strains of HIV, the case points to possible difficulties in vaccine immunity.  Researchers are concerned that with 10 broad subtypes of HIV, including a significant number of different strains, people could come into contact with varying HIV strains and not have protection from a vaccine for every strain.  However, researchers assert that the search for an HIV vaccine is ongoing and will not be disrupted by one study.

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