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AIDS Vaccine Study Reassures Skeptics

from Science Insider

PARIS--The fog around the largest AIDS vaccine study ever conducted began to lift today, as Thai and U.S. researchers for the first time publicly presented a detailed analysis of their data to over 1000 scientists gathered here at an annual meeting.

The study results, also published online by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) today, received widespread attention 3 weeks ago, when researchers touted them during press conferences in the United States and Thailand as the first success in a real-world test of an AIDS vaccine. But that pronouncement came under intense scrutiny because of concerns that it omitted negative analyses that challenged the upbeat conclusions.

After seeing a more thorough presentation of the data, even some scientists who were initially skeptical about the trial believe the vaccine does offer modest protection from infection with HIV.