World's First Successful Aids Vaccine Developed in Thailand

The new AIDs vaccine is reported to have reduced the incidence of HIV infection by as much as 30%. That number certainly isn't great, when one considers a nearly 70% failure rate, but it's a huge step forward and one that researchers hope will signal the possibility of a more successful vaccine in the near future. This particular vaccine is a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccine incarnations and researchers seem to think that the combination of the two forms is actually more powerful than the individual originals.

The testing for the vaccine occurred over a 3-year period in Thailand, where AIDS is a very large health concern among the population. Approximately 16,000 people participated in the study, with the group comprised of individuals deemed to be at "average risk" for contracting the AIDS virus. Over the next 3 years, half of the participants were given the vaccine treatments while the other half were given placebos.

After 3 years, roughly 74 people in the placebo group contracted HIV, while only about 51 people from the vaccination group contracted the virus. This data would indicate that the vaccine was about 30% effective in reducing HIV infection among the study's participants.

An important finding of the study was also that the vaccine appears to have no effect on the move from HIV infection to full-blown AIDS. This has been a major component of vaccine testing up until this point, so researchers are now considering the new possibility that a successful vaccine for HIV may have no effect in preventing the development of full-blown AIDS once the disease has been contracted.