Scientists and government leaders have already started mapping out how to try to improve the world's first successful AIDS vaccine, which protected one in three people from getting HIV in a large study in Thailand.

That is not good enough for immediate use, researchers say. Yet it is a watershed event in the 26 years since the AIDS virus was discovered. Recent setbacks led many scientists to think a successful vaccine would never be possible. The World Health Organisation and the United Nations agency UNAIDS said the results "instilled new hope" in the field, even though it likely will be years before a vaccine might be widely available.

"This is truly a great moment for world medicine," said Lieutenant General Eric Schoomaker, the US army Surgeon General. The army helped sponsor the study, the world's largest of an AIDS vaccine. It was the first time scientists tried preventing HIV the same way they treat it - with a combination approach. The study used two vaccines that work in different ways, and that may be one reason the strategy worked, even though neither vaccine did when tested individually in earlier trials, scientists say. The combo cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 per cent in the study of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced last Thursday in Bangkok.

Source: The Associated Press

License swine flu vaccines

The European Union's drug regulator recommended last Friday that two swine flu vaccines be licensed in the 27-nation bloc to ensure their availability before the start of the normal flu season. The European Medicines Agency called for the vaccines made by Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC to be granted a marketing authorisation. The agency issues advice on whether to license medicines across Europe, and their decisions are generally accepted by the European Commission and individual countries.

The decision to recommend the vaccines be licensed was made earlier than usual, because tests for both vaccines are ongoing. But authorities wanted to ensure the vaccines would be available before the usual flu season, when a spike in swine flu is expected.

Despite early data showing that one dose of both swine flu vaccines might work in most adults, the European Medicines Agency is recommending a two-dose regimen. Authorities expect further data from ongoing studies and said these recommendations might be updated later.

Other swine flu vaccines are being made by Sanofi-Aventis SA and Baxter International, but have not yet been approved by European authorities.

Source: The Associated Press