Effect Of Therapeutic Hiv Vaccine On Cd4 Count And Viral Load Of Aids Patients: Hope For Care Of Hiv Infections.

摘要

Previous efforts by great scientists were made to develop HIV vaccine using genetic engineering. There was no much success achieved. At our end live attenuated, killed or fragments of the virus was used as a vaccine. The vaccine was first produced in 1987 and used on thirty five (35) AIDS patients. The patients were monitored and followed up, using CD4 count, viral load and clinical parameters. Based on the above thirty five of them responded positively to the therapy. The result of this study had given hope for cure of HIV infection. Indroduction Since 1984, when DR Robert Gallo declared at the American national cancer institute (ANCL), the discovery of Human immune deficiency virus (HIV), the virus that cause Acquire immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), the human existence has been attacked by the deadly diseases, with devastating effect (1,2,3). Report have it that as of 1998 AIDS has killed no fewer that 14 million people worldwide and over 40 million people were living with HIV. About seventy-five (75) percent of the people were living in the developing countries. The picture presently is gloomier in Africa where AIDS kills about 5, 000, and infects 11,000 every day ( 3,4,5).At present almost every family seams to be affected. It is believed that AIDS has killed more people than those killed in the wars of Africa combined (5). Cases of HIV/AIDS have now been reported in virtually all ages and every tribe and both sexes. Surveillance reports have shown that the rate of infection in Nigeria is spreading like wild fire (6). For instance the prevalence of the disease was 1.4% in 1992, rose to 3.8% in 1994. In 1997 4.1% of the adults in Nigeria were infected (4, 5, 6). According to United Nations program on AIDS report of 1998 approximately 590,000 Nigeria developed full blown AIDS by the end of 1997 (5). It was reported that more than 2.2 million Nigerians were infected with HIV in 1998 (5).In Nigeria and other developing countries where most of the HIV infected people reside, the vast majority of them could not afford anti retroviral drugs by the time of this research (1997-1998) there was accordingly, a growing census that the development of a safe, effective and cheap vaccine against HIV represents the world’s most urgent public priority.Unfortunately, it was taking much longer to develop such a vaccine than was anticipated back in 1983-84, when research on HIV began in earnest. The reasons for this may be as a result of the tremendous degree of anti-genic variability seen among different clinical isolates and subtypes of HIV. Another reason is the particular route of transmission used by HIV which will probably require that a vaccine elicit both mucosal and systemic immunity. It is against this background however that I developed this classical approach of using mainly the whole virus /life attenuated or killed vaccine, to stimulate specific anti-HIV cellular and humoral immune response. Attenuated vaccines have been widely used around the world to protect against other viral diseases, including rabies, small pox, polio, yellow fever, measles and mumps. In each case the immunity from the poorly replicating virus (vaccine) strains is able to clear the attenuated virus, the virus and to provide long-lasting immunity against re-infection by the same pathogen. However before this research there were no attenuated vaccines in use against disease caused by HIV. To use a vaccine as preventive one must be sure that it is avirulent. This concern is highlighted by findings that vaccinated newborn macaques with strains of SIV (Simian immune deficiency Virus) caused fatal immune disease (6,7). No one should try to down play either this problem or the fact that an attenuated HIV vaccine strains may be spread to the partners and vaccinated women to their babies.It would be wrong to argue that the development of live attenuated HIV vaccine is not associated with biological and ethical problem. That is the reason for using the vaccine only