Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. Dear sirs,
I was informed browsing the internet about someone, Dr.Jeremiah
Abalaka, who is doctor of medicine in a hospital of Abuja, the
capital of Nigeria. This doctor claims he has found a vaccine to
prevent, but mostly important to CURE HIV infected
individuals. Have you heard about this? How true can this information be?
Is it worth for someone to go there and try the vaccine?
Is the whole story a fake?
Please let me know as far as you are able to do so.
Thank you in advance.
Mark H. Katz, M.D.
Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator
Kaiser Permanente of Southern California
The search for a vaccine and the separate but also important search for a cure for HIV have been the subject of media attention since the causative virus was discovered. There have been hundreds of suggested treatments which are stated to be successful, even curative, which have panned out to be worthless. In some cases, the persons behind them were purposefully misleading; in other cases they perhaps did not know the truth, either.
Regarding Dr. Abalaka, I do not know him; I do not know the treatment. But, I can tell you with scientific certainty that a vaccine for any illness has never been a cure as well! (A vaccine prevents the illness from occurring; a cure implies the illness already has taken hold.) I think this very statement is a major fallacy.
If indeed Dr. Abalaka has a successful treatment, and/or vaccine--remember that the information network is so well-lubricated today, thanks to the Internet among other things, that "respectable" rigorous scientific circles would already know about it, and be able to perform the double-blind placebo-controlled trials which are necessary to support the claim.
People often wonder--why would someone do something so misleading? Attention and money are the first two reasons which come to mind.
Thus, if this really is a successful treatment, why isn't the rest of the world doing something about it? Personally, I think you would better spend your time and your money doing something else.
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