BACKGROUND Gene-based vaccine delivery is an important strategy in the development of a preventive vaccine for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Vaccine Research Center (VRC) 004 is the first phase 1 dose-escalation study of a multiclade HIV-1 DNA vaccine. METHODS VRC-HIVDNA009-00-VP is a 4-plasmid mixture encoding subtype B Gag-Pol-Nef fusion protein and modified envelope (Env) cons...

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to determine whether the gender of patients and physicians is a significant factor in deciding which older adults are offered preventive care. METHODS A survey of medical records of ambulatory patients older than 60 years was performed in the practices of 210 physicians. Documentation of influenza vaccine, rectal examination, fecal occult blood test, Papan...

A contingent valuation survey of Thai adults revealed that private demand for a hypothetical AIDS vaccine that is safe, has no side effects, and lasts 10 years, rises with income, the lifetime risk of HIV infection and vaccine efficacy, and declines with vaccine price and respondent's age. Demand for both high (95%) and low (50%) efficacy AIDS vaccines is substantial. Nearly 80% of adults would...

Cervical cancer is, globally known to be, one of the most common cancers among women especially indeveloping countries. More than 90% of cervical cancers are associated with high-risk humanpapillomaviruses (HPVs) particularly HPV types 16 and 18. Two major strategies have been developed forprevention and treatment of cervical cancer and other HPV-associated malignancies; the first one is based ...

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a live-attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis developed a century ago by repeated subculture. It remains the only vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) in use today, and it offers variable protection against the respiratory forms of TB responsible for transmission. The principal genetic basis for BCG attenuation is the loss of the region of difference 1 (RD1) that...

Summary Analysis of HIV-1 virions from participants infected in a randomized controlled preventive HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trial can help elucidate mechanisms of partial protection. By comparing the genetic sequence of viruses from vaccine and placebo recipients to the sequence of the vaccine itself, a technique called 'sieve analysis', one can identify functional specificities of vaccine-induce...

In the absence of a cure for AIDS, attention has turned to the possibility of developing a preventive vaccine for HIV infection. Yet many scientific, ethical, legal, and economic obstacles remain. At the current rate, the development and production of an effective vaccine could take 15 to 20 years or longer. If tens of millions more HIV infections and deaths are to be avoided in the coming deca...

Immunization is a great success of preventive medicine. In the United States, most vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood are at or near record lows while the number of diseases preventable by vaccination has increased. These successes result from a comprehensive system that includes basic research; developing and testing vaccine candidates; a manufacturing base; a regulatory authority; deve...