2009-09-24 BBC - HIV Vaccine Cuts Infection

[Joseph]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8272113.stm

Trial HIV vaccine cuts infection

An experimental HIV vaccine has cut the risk of infection by nearly a third in a major trial, researchers say.

The vaccine - a combination of two earlier experimental vaccines - was given to 16,000 people in a joint trial by the Thai government and US military.

It reduced by 31% the volunteers' risk of contracting HIV, the virus that leads to Aids.

The findings have been described as a significant scientific breakthrough but a worldwide vaccine is some way off.

The study was carried out over seven years on volunteers in some of Thailand's most badly-affected regions.

"This is a very important scientific advance and gives us hope that a globally effective vaccine may be possible in the future," Col Jerome Kim of the US military told a news conference in Bangkok.

"It is the first demonstration that a vaccine against HIV can protect against infection".