Jahnavi Sarma
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AIDS continues to affect the world and till date there is no vaccine that can offer protection against this disease. @Shutterstock
Every year, countries and organisations across the world observe May 18 as the World AIDS Vaccine Day. AIDS continues to affect the world and till date there is no vaccine that can offer protection against this disease. This disease was first recorded in the USA in 1981. Since then it has gone on to affect millions of people all over the world. This incurable and lethal disease has also given rise to many myths and misconceptions. World Aids Vaccine Day seeks to counter this and also avoid the spread of the disease further. It was first celebrated in 1998. Since then, organisations and countries all over the world observe this day by holding events and programmes to increase awareness about the disease and educate people about prevention and spread.
There is no vaccine that can offer protection against this disease. But Nature Medicine recently published a paper citing studies in Stanford University School of Medicine and several other institutions that says that a new type of vaccination can substantially enhance and sustain protection from HIV.
This vaccine, which was given to monkeys, carry broad implications for immunologists pursuing vaccines for the coronavirus and better vaccines for other diseases. This new vaccine can apparently awaken a part of the immune system that most current vaccines leave sleeping. As scientists say, "Most vaccines aim at stimulating serum immunity by raising antibodies to the invading pathogen. This vaccine boosts cellular immunity. It musters an army of immune cells that chase down cells infected by the pathogen. We created a synergy between these two kinds of immune activity."
According to experts, vaccines arouse the adaptive immune system, which responds by generating cells and molecular weaponry that target a particular pathogen, as opposed to firing at anything that moves. Stanford University researchers say that 'despite over three decades of intense research, no preventive HIV vaccine is yet in sight'.
Earlier, hopes for an effective vaccine, based on a trial in Thailand whose results were published in 2012, were dashed just months ago when a larger trial of the same vaccine in South Africa was stopped after a preliminary assessment indicated that it barely worked.
According to experts of the above-mentioned study, the adaptive immune response consists of two arms. The first is serum immunity, in which B cells secrete antibodies that can glom onto and neutralize a microbial pathogen. The second is cellular immunity, in which killer T cells roam through the body inspecting tissues for signs of viruses and, upon finding them, destroying the cells that harbor them.
Most vaccines push the adaptive immune system to fight off infections with one of those arms tied behind its back, say researchers. They further add that all 'licensed vaccines to date work by inducing antibodies that neutralize a virus. But inducing and maintaining a high enough level of neutralizing antibodies against HIV is a demanding task'. The new study shows that by stimulating the cellular arm of the immune system, you can get stronger protection against HIV even with much lower levels of neutralizing antibodies.