February 2, 2001, Hour 2: HIV/AIDS Update II

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Hour Two: HIV / AIDS Update Part II

The effects of HIV and AIDS are being felt around the world -- but not at all equally. Think about these numbers, published in a December report from UNAIDS: in the year 2000, 45,000 people in North America became infected with HIV. In the same year, 3.8 million people became infected in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 1999, 4 million people became infected there.

Numbers like those make us remember that even with recent improvements in treatment for HIV infection, such as the expensive combination therapies now in use here, the only real solution can be prevention. That means education, changing behavior, and just possibly a vaccine against HIV.

Vaccines have been a long time coming. In the 17 years since HIV was first identified, many have tried to develop a vaccine for the virus. Right now, only one vaccine is solidly into clinical trials designed to see whether or not it works. All the other vaccine possibilities are just now being tested for safety -- if they're ready for testing at all.

So what are the barriers to a vaccine for HIV? In this hour of Science Friday, we'll be talking about the quest for a vaccine. We'll find out about one potential vaccine just beginning safety testing in Kenya. We'll also talk about the latest in treatment strategies, and find out how this all affects the clinicians on the front lines. Call in with your thoughts and comments at 1-800-989-8255, and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required)

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Guests:
Jon Cohen
Reporter, Science Magazine
Author, "Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine" (WW Norton, 2001)
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California

Anthony Fauci
Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland

Dava Klirsfeld, MD
Director, AIDS Clinic
Bellevue Hospital Center
New York, New York

Seth Berkeley
President
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
New York, New York

Books/Articles Discussed:

"Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine,"by Jon Cohen. WW Norton, 2001.

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