This looks promising!  It also argues for the secure
preservation of such dangerous viri as smallpox.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/131/118177.htm?ecd=wnl_day_021207

"An AIDS vaccine that uses a genetically engineered
smallpox virus to boost anti-HIV immunity looks
promising in early tests on humans.  In animal tests,
the vaccine did not protect monkeys against infection
with an AIDS virus. But vaccinated animals remained
healthy -- and suffered no immune damage from the
deadly virus. 

Now, nine humans have received small doses of the
vaccine: about one-tenth of the full dose. The vaccine
was safe. And even at this tiny dose, it stimulated
the kind of immune responses that protected monkeys...

...It's a two-part vaccine. First, a person gets two
doses of a DNA vaccine carrying three important HIV
genes called env, gag, and pol. Then a person gets two
doses of a smallpox virus genetically engineered to
carry the same three HIV genes. 

The smallpox component of the vaccine makes it unique.
The virus, called the modified Ankara virus or MVA,
cannot replicate in humans and cannot cause disease.
It was used in the waning days of the successful
global smallpox eradication program to safely
vaccinate some 120,000 people in Germany.  A side
benefit of the GeoVax vaccine is that recipients will
become immune to smallpox, should that virus return
via bioterror attack or lab accident...

...Two similar vaccines -- using adenovirus [upper
respiratory infections, usually] instead of smallpox
virus -- are further along than the GeoVax vaccine..."

Debbi
Good News Badly Needed Maru


 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Sucker-punch spam with award-winning protection. 
Try the free Yahoo! Mail Beta.
http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/features_spam.html
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l

Reply via email to