"AIDS Vaccines: Is Older Better?"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"AIDS Vaccines: Is Older Better?"

Science (12/18/92) Vol. 258, No. 5090, P. 1880
Cohen, Jon

Abstract: Although researchers have previously considered an AIDS vaccine made from attenuated virus as being far too dangerous, many are rethinking the conventional vaccine approach. Several AIDS researchers know the power of attenuated virus vaccines, but they fear that even a weakened version of the evasive HIV could lead to fatal infection. Many researchers have believed that the only effective vaccine would be genetically engineered pieces of HIV, but that high-tech approach isn't working well. However, an experiment involving attenuated virus has reproduced some striking results. Ronald Desrosiers and his colleagues at Harvard's New England Regional Primate Research Center vaccinated four rhesus monkeys with a weakened form of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and protected them from infection for more than two years. But Desrosiers said long-term safety concerns are worrisome. "It will take 10 or 15 years of safety testing before we can be comfortable putting this into thousands of people." Before the live, attenuated method could be seriously considered for use in humans, at least three safety concerns would have to be addressed. First, the HIV in an attenuated vaccine could revert to a virulent state. Second, even if the vaccine did not cause AIDS, it might cause cancer. And third, a virus that initially appears safe might, decades later, turn out to cause disease. Philip Berman of Genentech, a company working on genetically-engineered AIDS vaccines, warns that SIV is different from HIV and that monkey data may not apply to humans.

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