AEGiS-15IAC: Prolonged survival of end-stage AIDS patients receiving V-1 Immunitor.

15th International AIDS Conference

Bangkok, Thailand - July 11-16, 2004

Prolonged survival of end-stage AIDS patients receiving V-1 Immunitor.

Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. B10457)

Metadilogkul O, Jirathitikal V, Bourinbaiar AS
1Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association of Thailand, Rajavithi General Hospital, Bangkok , Thailand

BACKGROUND: As there is still neither a cure for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) nor a vaccine to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, an AIDS diagnosis remains associated with death sentence. Thailand is one of South-East Asian countries with high prevalence of HIV infection, where most of HIV-infected individuals have no access to antiviral drugs which could prolong the life. V-1 Immunitor (V1) is an experimental, polyvalent, oral AIDS vaccine manufactured in Thailand and has been used as a therapeutic modality by 60,000 HIV-positive Thai patients.

METHODS: V-1 Immunitor was offered at Wat Phra Baht Nam Phu- a Buddhist hospice for terminally ill AIDS patients. Out of 117 individuals 53 decided to take V1 and 64 have declined the treatment. Patients in both groups did not differ in age, gender, or severity of disease. The mean age in V1 group was comparable to non V1 group (44.01 vs 43.21; p=0.63, t-test). The V1 group consisted of 35 (66.1%) males and 18 (33.9%) females while non-recipients comprised 40 (63.5%) males and 24 (37.5%) females. The male to female ratio was indistinguishable between both groups. All patients were in WHO clinical stage 4 at study entry and have received similar palliative care. None of patients received conventional antiviral drugs.

RESULTS: All patients in non-V1 group have died by 9th week. In contrast 56.6% (30/53) in V1 group remained alive at 9 weeks. The difference was statistically significant by Wilcoxon signed rank test (p= 0.000089). Today, after 18 months from the initiation of this study at least 15% of patients are still alive.

CONCLUSION: V-1 Immunitor needs to be tested in further controlled clinical trials as life-saving intervention.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, AIDS Vaccines, HIV Seropositivity, Thailand, Humans, Female, Male, mortality

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