The Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council developed a HIV vaccine and in phase I of a clinical trial, the researchers found 90% of the vaccinated people developed immunity against HIV. The vaccine is believed to be safe and powerful by the developers. This study is currently waiting for approval for phase II and III of clinical trial. A infectious disease specialist in the US cautions against the vaccine since the research is still being conducted. This reminds me of the Wakefield study on how vaccines would cause autism and created the "panic epidemic" among the public. I feel like if the vaccine is indeed safe and effective, it would have a huge impact at decreasing the spread of HIV. However, I feel like both sides of the argument on the safety of the vaccine seem flawed: the proponents don't have enough data to support their claim that it's as safe as other vaccines and the opponent US doctor doesn't have evidence to show the vaccine is unsafe..other than the fact that the safety is unknown. What happened to innocent until proven guilty eh? It'll be interesting to see if this vaccine is is actually effective once the clinical trials are done.
Link: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/29/new-vaccine-could-turn-hiv-into-minor-infection/
-Michelle Jin
1 comment:
Innocent until proven guilty doesn't usually work for drugs, food, chemicals...remember Thalidamide?
Post a Comment