Do people think a vaccine is on the horizon for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS? They seem to have come close, but have not yet encountered success in getting a FDA (U.S.) approved vaccine. What about a vaccine for Hep C? I believe that it can be sexually transmitted, since Hep B can. Is there any progress on a vaccine toward this form of hepatitis?
They've been working on one, but currently, there isn't one avaliable. Hepatitis C vaccine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wiki link, yes, but there's a bunch of sources at the bottom that are papers that you can look into.
I'd almost wonder if a great treatment would be here before any type of vaccine. People are living much longer now, but I could see so something big happening like that.
I question weather a vaccine or cure for AID's HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections will be available in the lifetime in either of us replying to each other altogether. I do think the cure for Cancer might be possible in a major scientific breakthrough; but it might end up like the game One Chance; for those who have not played, look it up; it's great.
I went to a conference in the mid 80s where research into an HIV vaccine was discussed. That was almost 30 years ago and we still haven't seen an effective vaccine. Why? Because vaccines work by giving a "hint" to the immune system of what an infection might look like. So, when an infection does occur, the immune system will already recognize the infection and will know what to do. The immunization process depends on two things- a healthy immune system and getting the "hint" part of the vaccine right. HIV has multiple strains and is good at mutating over time. So, getting the vaccine proteins correct has been a challenge (similar to the problem that we have with flu vaccines). But the biggest problem is that HIV disables the immune system, so the very thing that we depend upon to fight the infection is disabled by HIV which makes the normal immunization process ineffective. There's also ethical issues about how to test an HIV vaccine in humans. Unfortunately, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is also constantly mutating. That has been a big challenge for researchers looking for a vaccine. And it's also a challenge for treatment because there is no guarantee of lifetime immunity after a hepatitis C infection. A person who has successfully recovered from hepatitis C can be re-infected with another strain of HCV. Probably we will see a vaccine for HCV in the near future. HIV? Well, one can hope but I'm not optimistic about an HIV vaccine.
