HIV vaccine trials fail due to lack of women
HIV vaccine developers lack female test participants
According to the Nature News portal (reprinting an article from the Science and Development Network “HIV vaccine trials struggle to enrol women” – VM), on average, only 20% of participants in the first and second phases of clinical trials of HIV vaccines in Africa are women, although their share is much higher among carriers of the virus. In addition, women with HIV have a higher viral load – a measure of the severity of the viral infection.
"In the end, we can get a vaccine that is likely to cause a good immune response only in men. We just won't know if it works as well for women," said Hannah Kibuuka, head of the vaccine development team at Makerere University (Uganda), whose words are quoted in the message.
Merlin Robb, deputy director of the U.S. Armed Forces HIV Research Program, said that although African women attend preventive checkups, they rarely sign up to participate in vaccine trials.
According to him, one of the reasons for this situation may be the fact that participants in clinical trials need to use contraceptives and cannot get pregnant, while most of those who are suitable for participating in projects are of reproductive age. In addition, many women are forced to obtain consent for their participation in the trials from their parents or husbands, who in most cases oppose this.
Another obstacle, according to the conference participants, may be the need to visit clinical centers frequently – for example, participants in one of the studies in South Africa had to make 22 trips to the research center and undergo seven detailed examinations in a year and a half.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru17.09.2012