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Researchers see further positive results with herpes virus-based vaccines in monkeys
Gus Cairns, 2013-10-09 18:40:00
One of the biggest news stories at the AIDS Vaccine 2013 conference was the groundbreaking experiment in which half of a group of monkeys given a candidate monkey-HIV vaccine appeared to lose all trace of viral infection. This vaccine used genes from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the monkey equivalent of HIV, contained in the shell of cytomegalovirus(CMV) – a ubiquitous virus from the herpes virus family.
As well as the CMV-based vaccine, other researchers are at an earlier stage of using experimental vaccines based on two other viruses of the herpes family – the varicella zoster virus (VZV) which causes shingles and chicken pox, and HHV-8 or KSHV, which causes the AIDS-related cancer Kaposi’s sarcoma. The vaccines use attenuated (weakened) versions of these viruses, which cause no disease but do stimulate an immune response, again with SIV genes packaged inside them to stimulate an immune response to that virus.
The rationale behind using viruses of this type is that they persist in the body, meaning that the anti-SIV immune stimulation they offer also persists, instead of fading over time.
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