OBJECTIVE To evaluate the population effects of potential preventive and therapeutic vaccines in early- and late-stage epidemics in a population of homosexual men. METHODS An epidemic model was used that simulated the course of the epidemic for a population of homosexual men in San Francisco, California. Vaccine programs were evaluated by the number of cases of HIV averted, the effect on the ...

To explore how to better educate rural Africans about preventive HIV/AIDS vaccine trials, 15 semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with villagers in Lyantonde, Rakai District, Uganda. This study reports on the findings by focusing on the attitudes, knowledge and questions the rural villagers had about HIV/AIDS-preventive vaccine testing. While several interviewees confused preve...

The uncontrolled progression of the AIDS epidemic has made the development of an efficacious human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine a major objective of scientific research. No effective preventive vaccine against HIV is currently available and sterilizing immunity has not yet been achieved in animal models. This review analyses the major challenges in developing an AIDS vaccine, in particu...

Despite extensive research efforts, a preventive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine remains one of the major challenges in the field of AIDS research. Experimental strategies which have been proven successful for other viral vaccines are not enough to tackle HIV-1 and new approaches to design effective preventive AIDS vaccines are of utmost importance. Due to enormous diversity among gl...

This minireview will provide a perspective on new developments and concepts related to biomarker applications for vaccines. In the context of preventive vaccines, biomarkers have the potential to predict adverse events in select subjects due to differences in genetic make-up/underlying medical conditions or to predict effectiveness (good versus poor response). When expanding them to therapeutic...

The search for a preventive vaccine that can halt the global pandemic is the ultimate goal of HIV research. Development of a vaccine against HIV-1 has been plagued by many insurmountable challenges. Different vaccine concepts have been tested to overcome these challenges. Experimental vaccines that showed promise in preclinical studies were advanced into clinical trials. Yet, human trials prove...

The volume of vaccine analytical literature is notable (the journal Vaccine alone having published 231 trials on diVerent vaccines between 1983 and 1994 ). However, to date little attention has been paid to summarising and evaluating its significance in the assessment of vaccine quality (defined as eYcacy, eVectiveness, eYciency, safety, and acceptability). Quality assessment is important as va...

INTRODUCTION Vaccination is the main preventive strategy against Yellow Fever (YF), which is a public health concern in Brazil. However, HIV-infected patients might have insufficient knowledge regarding YF, YF prevention, and vaccines in general. METHODS In this questionnaire-based study, data from 158 HIV-infected individuals were addressed in three distinct outpatient clinics in São Paulo. ...

Vaccines are commonly used as a preventive medicine for infectious diseases worldwide, however, clinical trials on an amyloid beta vaccine for Alzheimer's disease represents a new concept in the field of vaccinations. Several recent studies indicate the potential of therapeutic vaccines as well as classical vaccines as preventive medicines. A number of therapeutic vaccines for cancer have been ...

Vaccines are commonly used as a preventive medicine for infectious diseases worldwide; however, the trial for an amyloid beta vaccine against Alzheimer's disease will open a new concept in vaccination. In case of therapeutic vaccines for cancer, their targets are usually specific antigens in cancer cells, allowing activated cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) to attach and remove the antigen-presenting ca...