I don't usually focus on HIV/AIDS breakthrough news as its often fleeting. But this looks very promising. Researchers have created a vaccine that reduces risk by 31%. While that's not enough, it's the very beginning in an area that has daunted scientists for years:
Even though the benefit is modest, "it's the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine," said colonel Jerome Kim who helped lead the study for the US Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The institute's director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that this was "not the end of the road," but said he was surprised and very pleased by the outcome.
"It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result" and developing a more effective Aids vaccine, he said. "This is something that we can do."
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