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The reason why is really interesting: it would occasionally cause you to falsely test positive for HIV, because it caused some people to generate HIV-reactive a
by petertodd 6y ago
The reason why is really interesting: it would occasionally cause you to falsely test positive for HIV, because it caused some people to generate HIV-reactive antibodies. Doesn't appear that it directly had any other harmful effects. But obviously false positives for HIV could be a disaster for HIV containment, and lead to many more people killed by actual HIV in the long run.
It'd be really interesting to know how easy that was to catch: was it guaranteed that they'd notice that kind of issue? Or did they get lucky?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55269381 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55269381
- khuey 6y agoYeah I'd also be interested to learn the details.
- ketamine__ 6y agohttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/world/australia/uq-coronavirus-vaccine-false-positive.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/world/australia/uq-corona... > The use of the H.I.V. protein posed no risk of infecting the volunteers with that virus, the researchers said. But the clamp generated the production of antibodies recognized by H.I.V. tests at higher levels than the scientists had expected. They thought it was a possibility.
- petertodd 6y agoThanks! I'll stress: that sounds like a perfectly reasonable approach to try, and they figured out the problem very early on, with very little harm actually done.