Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . The first vaccine designed specifically to fight the HIV strain in Africa has been cleared for testing in humans, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative said Tuesday at the 13th World AIDS Conference here. Developed in partnership between researchers at England s Oxford University and the University of Nairobi, the vaccine is one of several being studied with funding from the nonprofit initiative. The genesis of the vaccine is a curious phenomenon observed among some people active in Nairobi's sex trade, according to Dr. Omu Anzale, director of a clinic that studies HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Of some 2,000 prostitutes studied, about 5 percent were found to have developed a natural resistance to the disease.
T cells are key cells that coordinate immune system response.
HIV focuses its attack on these cells, disarming the body s ability to fight disease. Usually, the body doesn't recognize the virus quickly enough to produce enough of the T cells needed for an effective defense. An Italian lab has developed a patch form of a vaccine that combines a mutation of HIV with another virus that the immune system already knows how to fight. The goal is to modify the immune system to hunt down HIV and kill it before it can cause damage. The first vaccine trial is scheduled to begin within six to eight weeks in the United Kingdom.