3 ms·

2 out of 7 macaques didn't get infected after 13 weekly (anally administered) exposures to SHIV. The other 5 averaged 8 exposures before infection took place vs

2 out of 7 macaques didn't get infected after 13 weekly (anally administered) exposures to SHIV. The other 5 averaged 8 exposures before infection took place vs 3 exposures in the control group. That's actually pretty good at preventing infection - 28.5% avoided infection completely, with the remainder clearly having a much more robust immunity than control.

abeppu 5y ago
I mean, it seems like it did _something_ meaningful. But if you were part of an at-risk population, how promising would you really consider an animal trial that, for most treatment subjects, delayed infection by 5 weeks? Note, these animals had received multiple vaccines/boosters spaced out over a year before they were exposed to SHIV, i.e they spent 10x as long being vaccinated as they resisted infection.
- bluGill 5y ago
  Better than nothing. Maybe not enough for me to stop whatever other practices I'm doing to reduce risk, but it seems like a good shield in case one of those others fail.
  - abeppu 5y ago
    But the alternative isn't nothing. E.g. one class of alternatives is PrEP which is very effective, well-tolerated in many patients, and depending on country, pretty affordable. Oh, maybe for various reasons, regularly getting and taking pills is difficult for some populations, and a series of injections makes more sense? Subdermal injections for PrEP are also in the works and look like they would work for more than a year. I would love there to be a really highly effective vaccine. But PrEP sets the bar relatively high for a vaccine to actually be an improvement, right? https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html https://www.aidsmap.com/news/mar-2021/reformulated-islatravir-implant-should-provide-prep-over-year https://www.aidsmap.com/news/mar-2021/reformulated-islatravi...
    - bluGill 5y ago
      Sort of. There are side effects, which might or.might not be bad for any individual. And of course you can forget to take daily medication. Can the vaccine be combined is an open question.
TaylorAlexander 5y ago
I’m curious how that compares to PrEP but I suppose both would be better than one.
- pandemicsoul 5y ago
  "PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed," according to the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep/prep-effectiveness.html https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep/prep-effectiveness.html

abeppu 5y ago

I mean, it seems like it did _something_ meaningful. But if you were part of an at-risk population, how promising would you really consider an animal trial that, for most treatment subjects, delayed infection by 5 weeks? Note, these animals had received multiple vaccines/boosters spaced out over a year before they were exposed to SHIV, i.e they spent 10x as long being vaccinated as they resisted infection.

bluGill 5y ago
Better than nothing. Maybe not enough for me to stop whatever other practices I'm doing to reduce risk, but it seems like a good shield in case one of those others fail.
- abeppu 5y ago
  But the alternative isn't nothing. E.g. one class of alternatives is PrEP which is very effective, well-tolerated in many patients, and depending on country, pretty affordable. Oh, maybe for various reasons, regularly getting and taking pills is difficult for some populations, and a series of injections makes more sense? Subdermal injections for PrEP are also in the works and look like they would work for more than a year. I would love there to be a really highly effective vaccine. But PrEP sets the bar relatively high for a vaccine to actually be an improvement, right? https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html https://www.aidsmap.com/news/mar-2021/reformulated-islatravir-implant-should-provide-prep-over-year https://www.aidsmap.com/news/mar-2021/reformulated-islatravi...
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Sort of. There are side effects, which might or.might not be bad for any individual. And of course you can forget to take daily medication. Can the vaccine be combined is an open question.

TaylorAlexander 5y ago

I’m curious how that compares to PrEP but I suppose both would be better than one.

pandemicsoul 5y ago
"PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed," according to the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep/prep-effectiveness.html https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep/prep-effectiveness.html