Vaccine test halted

Warning Is Sent to AIDS Vaccine Volunteers
S. Africans Among Recipients Who May Be at Higher Risk of Contracting
Virus

By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007; Page A20

JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 24 -- South African AIDS researchers have begun
warning hundreds of volunteers that a highly touted experimental
vaccine they received in recent months might make them more, not less,
likely to contract HIV in the midst of one of the world's most rampant
epidemics.

The move stems from the discovery last month that an AIDS vaccine
developed by Merck & Co. might have led to more infections than it
averted among study subjects in the United States and other countries.
Among those who received at least two doses of the vaccine, 19
contracted HIV compared with 11 of those given placebos.

Researchers shut down the trial on the grounds that the vaccine was
proving ineffective, but the surge in infection among vaccinated
volunteers prompted intense scientific debate and anxiety among
researchers. .........

........"This is my worst nightmare," said Glenda Gray, the lead South
Africa investigator for the vaccine study. "I haven't slept for days.
I have a headache. I'm ready to resign from trials for the rest of my
life." .........

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