Why a Vaccine for HIV Remains a Pipe Dream?

In 1990, the growth of many infectious diseases was checked. However, during the same time, a virus, still unchecked, had wiped out millions. Researchers were always left speechless when the question of a vaccine to this deadly virus popped up. The virus was known as HIV. Detected in 1984, Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) had nearly taken 30 million lives. The major concern for many researches is that HIV, as per now, cannot be prevented since no vaccine has been developed for it. The virus destroys the entire immune system by lowering the levels of CD4+ cells – the main constituent of a human body’s immune system. The reasons, which have stunted the growth prospects of an HIV’s vaccine are many; read on to know.

Reasons as to why there is still no vaccine for an HIV virus

In April 1984, researches declared that they would soon roll out a vaccine to the HIV virus within a span of just two years. The reasons to such heightened levels of optimism are still unknown. The factors held responsible for no development of an HIV vaccine are listed below.

Till date, there has been no recovery made from HIV virus. Unlike other infections such as chickenpox and measles - where a diseased person naturally made recovery with the help of medicines - in HIV no care or medicine can help in reversing the immunity’s deterioration. Moreover, whenever a person gets successfully recovered from a disease (say measles, chickenpox, etc.), the system gets immune to the ailment; such system becomes the model to develop a vaccine. However, no such human immune system is found that has withstood the attack of an HIV virus. 

One name that is consistently striving to bring the best of vaccines to the world is Hilleman Laboratories. The company was established in Delhi and has adopted high-class vaccine development strategies for contributing to healthcare research India. The presence of state-of-the-art vaccines laboratories in the company’s premises has helped it grow by leaps and bounds. The company is a joint venture between merck & wellcome trust for creating sustainable vaccine development. Any other details can be found at – www.hillemanlabs.org.

The Malaria Vaccine: Is it Still a Holy Grail?

For over millennia, Malaria has existed and destroyed several precious lives. With the path-breaking advances in medical science and technology, mankind has, on innumerable occasions, launched an attack to control this parasite. However, all those efforts were to no avail. Several clinical practices to test the candidate vaccine are still underway.

 What are the threats to the development of a malaria vaccine?

If figures are something to go by, mankind has an impressive gain by saving close to 1.1 million lives that almost succumbed to this fatal disease in a span ranging from 2001 to 2010. Such a feat was possible owing to the use of some advanced drugs and bed nets treated with insecticides. Nevertheless, the battle against Malaria has just escalated to a different level as a larger section of mankind is making no bones about showing resistance against the use of such powerful drugs and insecticides. 

What are the prospects of a developing a successful malaria vaccine?

A malaria vaccine is different from any other vaccine (such as that of polio, tetanus, etc.) due to the fact that it has to work with other interventions. First, due to the complexity of Plasmodium parasite’s genome, it has been a herculean task to derive a potent vaccine for averting the disease. Several renowned scientists are carrying out clinical trial (currently in phase three) for preventing the disease. But harboring the complexness of the parasite’s DNA, it is not wise to expect the probable vaccine to singlehandedly tackle the disease. As per the clinical trials taking place in 11 sites of Africa, the candidate vaccine (Mosquirix) is used with insecticide bed nets.

The complexity of vaccine development has always been critical for getting human race out of the clutches of some of the baneful diseases. Hence, only acclaimed name such as Hilleman Laboratories must be thought whenever a vaccine development task is at hand. Apart from vaccine development, the company prepares different types of immunization chart such as immunization schedule for kids. The company believes in the concept of global immunization and strives to achieve it; for any other detail go to – http://www.hillemanlabs.org/.