First Glimmer of Hope for an AIDS Vaccine

A new vaccine created by cobbling together two older, ineffective AIDS vaccines shows the first evidence of being able to prevent the virus, though only in less than one-third of cases. Still, it's a major breakthrough and one that the scientists who completed the study are justifiably thrilled with as a first step towards finding a vaccine that could be widely used.

The study, completed in Thailand on a sample of more than 16,000 people, was the result of a partnership between Thailand's Ministry of Public Health and the United States. Though it's a groundbreaking medical discovery, scientists still don't know why the vaccine works in some cases but not in the majority; also, the vaccine is aimed at only two of the many strains of HIV currently circulating.

For now, an AIDS vaccine still appears to be some ways off, with researchers having more questions than answers over the new discovery. Still, a vaccine has never before seemed so close.

When the HPV vaccine -- used against cervical cancer and genital warts -- was recommended for general use among girls, critics claimed that vaccinating against a sexually transmitted disease would result in increased promiscuity. When the FDA recommended that boys, too, be vaccinated, that argument didn't seem to gain much traction -- hopefully a sign that controversy over vaccinating against diseases that can be sexually transmitted is losing steam.