Exclusive: Watch 1st person receive new HIV vaccine
The HVTN 702 vaccine trial in SA is currently the only HIV trial being conducted in the world.
23-year old Nkosiyaze Ncube from Inanda is the first person to be injected with the new HIV vaccine. Watch the exclusive footage here:
In line with World Aids Day tomorrow, a landmark clinical trial to test whether a vaccine regimen can prevent HIV infection in the South African population, kicks off today.
5 400 participants, 15 sites
The vaccine will be administered to 5Â 400 participants in the trial at 15 research sites. It will take about 20 months for the vaccine to be administered to all the participants in the trial.
1st sites activated
They are the MRC HRPU Research Site in Verulam and the Setshaba Research Centre in Soshanguve. Activation of the Emavundleni Clinical Research Centre is expected to take place soon.
1000 people per day
With more than 1Â 000 people becoming infected with HIV every day in South Africa we are in dire need of better HIV prevention options despite recent advances. A safe and effective HIV vaccine would go a long way towards ending HIV in the country.
HVTN 702 trial
- is the only efficacy trial of a preventive HIV vaccine taking place anywhere in the world at present
- is the first such trial to be launched in seven years and that solely in South Africa
- is the largest and most advanced HIV vaccine trial yet launched in southern Africa
The vaccine
A modified form of the only vaccine regimen that has shown a measure of efficacy in preventing HIV infection will be used in the trial. The regimen was tested in the RV144 trial which is known as the Thai study. Â A 31 percent reduction in HIV infections after 3.5 years was reported.
The modified vaccine has been tested in a smaller trial HVTN 100 with the immune-system response shown by participants meeting the expected criteria thus justifying proceeding with HVTN 702.
The trial
It will test whether a combination of vaccines is:
- Safe for use and well-tolerated by those receiving it
- Effective in preventing HIV among people who have not been infected with HIV
All volunteers must be aged between 18 and 35, sexually active, in general good health and HIV-negative.
HVTN 702 is a placebo-controlled trial, meaning that participants are randomly assigned to two groups where one group will receive the test vaccines and the other will receive a placebo which is a simple saline solution.
During the trial all participants will be counselled to continue using established methods of HIV protection, but existing methods are imperfect and some participants will acquire HIV during the study.
The result
If HVTN 702 shows the study vaccine to be effective, this trial could dramatically change the course of the HIV epidemic.
