Observatory Estate welcome our new residents, Prof Glenda Gray and her artist husband, Kobus Kloppers, to their new home in Eckstein Street.
The following is a condensed extract from Page 1 of The Star of February 8 2007 on Prof Gray's major breakthrough that could wipe out HIV/Aids:
Prof Glenda Gray. Pic: The Star
The jab that could change SA
By Jillian Green Aids Writer
Today the medical world stands on the threshold of a major breakthrough that could wipe out HIV/Aids. In a medical first, a potential Aids vaccine will enter the final stages of study to test whether it can prevent future generations from becoming infected with the virus. Much in the way that the vaccine for polio eliminated that dreaded illness in recent years, two Joburg clinical scientists are hoping the candidate vaccine - MRKAd5 - will stop HIV in its tracks. "This is the most promising Aids vaccine candidate that the world has ever had. Very few others has gone this far into human development," Prof Glenda Gray, the principal investigator of the study, said. Already preliminary data from trials conducted in the United States and South America suggests that the vaccine is working against infection with the subtype B strain of the HI-virus predominant in those areas. The question now is whether it will work against the subtype C strain of the virus, which is prevalent in Southern and East Africa. Gray and Dr Eftyhia Vardas, both of the Wits University's Perinatal HIV Research Unit based at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, aim to provide the answer. "We are close, but we are not there yet," Vardas said.
The vaccine, developed by the American company Merck & Co, works by encouraging an immune response in an individual's body when exposed to HIV. And this study is aimed at determining whether that immune response is enough to prevent HIV infection and/or reduce the viral load of a person who becomes infected with the virus. "The scientific world is very excited. We should also get excited but we must be mindful that this is a scientific process fraught with challenges," Vardas said. Because a different strain of the virus is prevalent here, there is no guarantee that the vaccine will be effective.
"If this trial meets the expectations, we would move the search for a vaccine forward by at least a decade," Gray said. In the coming months the two, together with researchers in Cape Town, Klerksdorp, Medunsa and Durban will enroll 3 000 HIV-negative male and female volunteers between the ages of 18 and 35 to take part in the trial, which will last four-and-a-half years. Over the trial period, participants will be required to undergo nine clinic visits, three vaccine injections and have blood drawn seven times. "Participants must know that this is still just a study. There is no proof that it prevents HIV infection so it is vitally important that they practise safe sex," Vardas said. Final results from the trial will be known in 2011 but interim analysis will be done throughout the four-and-a-half year period to determine whether it is working or not.
Prof Anthony MBewu, president of the Medical Research Council, said: "South Africa's conduct of this trial is a significant and exciting step forward in our search for a successful vaccine against HIV/Aids."
