NEW YORK — The results of a new HIV vaccine trial in Thailand, although encouraging since they show a lowered rate of infection among those vaccinated, should be treated with cautious optimism.
The hope of a breakthrough is, nonetheless, excellent news, considering that every day 7,000 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV and that in 2007 over 2 million people died of AIDS according to UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS).
The trial of the new AIDS vaccine was carried out in parts of Thailand. The vaccine was given to 16,402 volunteers between 18 and 30 years old and deemed to be at average risk of HIV infection. The vaccine used was a combination of two vaccines that, when tried in isolation, had not affected infection rates. It was based on HIV strains that circulate commonly in Thailand.