Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucla-cs!BIO2AEW%HOFSTRA.BITNET@oac.ucla.edu
From: BIO2AEW%HOFSTRA.BITNET@oac.ucla.edu (Al Wilson)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: AIDS VACCINES.
Message-ID: <31565@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 5 Feb 90 21:38:00 GMT
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Approved: aids@cs.ucla.edu
Archive-number: 1669


 Drew Hamilton writes:
>
>
>    Also, Can the immune system be taught to battle AIDS (just like chiken pox)
> cause we could just develop an immunity shot to give a small dosage of AIDS to
> the person.
>

        No one has answered the question about vaccines
for the AIDS virus yet, so I will attempt to.
        Yes, it is possible to develop a vaccine
against the AIDS virus.  There are two processes to do
this.
        One is to take diassembled parts of the virus
and inject them into a human.  There is a problem
with this approach.  Many regions of AIDS are
hypervariable, and it is impossible to collect each and
every size and shape in order to prepare the immune
system to be ready for the particular form that infects
the person.  Researchers are try to narrow down the
most conserved parts.  The is a technique of one of the
polio vaccines, but there is no guarentee that it will
work every time in every individual.
        Another way is to try and disable a whole
virus and inject it into a person.  It is believed that
such an action provokes the immune system to work the
best.  The problem with this is that sometimes the virus
becomes strong again, and ends up causing the disease
it was meant to protect against.  This is a technique of
a different polio virus, where immunity has a better
percentage of occuring, but in small amounts, people
acutally come down with polio.
        The largest problem with a AIDS vaccine is "how
to test" it.  Conventionally it is done with animals,
then humans.  But there are no animals that are
sickened by AIDS (while a few can be infected), so
testing animals is out.  And in reality, how can you
test the effects on humans? If you give the vaccine to
someone, the only way to test it is to inject the
person with the virus and see if it replicates.  I don't
think there are many people willing to take the chance.

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