First breakthrough: New mRNA vaccine against HIV shows success

The World Health Organization estimates that around 40 million people have died from AIDS-related diseases since the epidemic began in 1981. Although the number of people infected with HIV is falling every year thanks to medical advances, an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide contracted the virus in 2021. Medicine is now on the verge of another breakthrough: the first vaccination against HIV shows success in a study.

BILD explains.

The Moderna company, which has also developed a vaccine against Corona, has tested an mRNA vaccine against the HI virus. The result is promising: 35 of the 36 people treated with the vaccine candidate showed activation of neutralizing antibodies. A first important step towards full immunization.

Prof William Schief, one of the study’s authors, said the new vaccine detects a wide range of HIV subtypes. This is very important because the HI virus also mutates very frequently.

Research is in full swing worldwide after mRNA vaccines were so successful in the fight against the corona virus.

Despite decades of efforts, there has been no effective vaccine against the HI virus, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Being diagnosed with HIV used to be a death sentence. Today, the viral load can be reduced with modern drugs to such an extent that the virus is no longer detectable in the body. In addition, for several years there has been a prophylaxis for HIV-negative people to protect themselves from infection. However, these tablets must be taken regularly.