Happy (day after) World AIDS Day!

I got totally whacked with schoolwork this week, so my World AIDS Day post is, as my father would say, a day late and a dollar short.  I had planned to do a recap of all the crazy (in a good way) and wonderful things that happened in the world of AIDS this year (no cure or anything, but exciting nonetheless), but I have treatment plans that need to get done and I got all screwed up with Thanksgiving and EXCUSE EXCUSE EXCUSE, but hey - you got some awesome links there, and here is a super cute AIDS awareness penguin for your enjoyment.

I'm naming him F.U. AIDS Penguin.

F.U. AIDS Penguin (who I had no part in the creation of - buy t-shirts here!) is dedicated not only to the millions of people affected with HIV in the world and those who work tirelessly to fight it, but also to T-Zous, my favorite penguin-loving Jew since 1991, who gave birth to an absolutely beautiful 7 pound baby girl early on World AIDS Day Eve (a.k.a. Nov. 30).  A big fat Mazel Tov to you, my girliefry - let's go eat sushi!

You know, or not

Dammit. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a gleeful report that Thai scientists had developed an HIV vaccine that was 31% effective. It wasn't the magic bullet to end a global epidemic, but it was a damn good start. Well, my buzz has been officially killed.

Apparently, as soon as the Thai data were looked at by anyone who wasn't directly involved with the trial itself, it was determined that the vaccine was really only about 26% effective. 26% is statistically insignificant, meaning there's no way to tell if the result was just due to chance or not. Which sucks, and has killed my buzz.

Goes to show that you can't get too excited about revolutionary findings that haven't yet gone through peer review. You'll most likely end up disappointed with no buzz at all.

Oh, well...the fight goes on! In the mean time, don't forget yer rubbers!!

They're Safe, Dangscragit.

A British girl died yesterday a few hours after receiving her first dose of Cervarix, a vaccine for HPV not approved in the US (an FDA panel did give a recommendation to approve it earlier this month, though). There is no evidence that her death was caused by the vaccination at this point.

Now, I'm a vaccine kind of girl. I've tested them and have had them tested on me. I know that countless lives have been saved because of them - have you ever met someone with smallpox? Polio? Highly doubtful - thanks to vaccines. Yes, I think they're one of the greatest achievements of humankind, right alongside space flight and salami.

Some insist they're unnecessary and others say they're actually harmful. I really try and be open and to hear things objectively in case I can go ahead and learn something, but I have Feelings about people letting pop science and fear dictate their health decisions.

Yes, some people do have bad reactions to vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control track these reactions closely. Any adverse event that occurs around the time of a vaccination is reported. If you get a flu shot then get hit by a bus on your way home from the doctor's, it's an adverse event.

Gardasil, a vaccine similar to Cervarix, was approved in the United States in 2006. In 2009, the CDC reported that 985 serious adverse events (events involving "hospitalization, permanent disability or death") have occurred since approval. That's an average of about 330 serious adverse events per year, some of which had absolutely nothing to do with the vaccine.

Considering that an average of 3700 women die (not become hospitalized, not become disabled - they die) of cervical cancer every year, I'm having a hard time understanding how HPV vaccines are anything but a big fat positive.

It WORKS!

Drug scientists in Thailand announced today they've developed the first vaccine that reduces a person's risk of a contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. SWEEEEET!

16,402 Thai volunteers took part in the clinical trial, which started in 2006. Everyone got 6 shots - half got the candidate vaccine (which was actually a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines), and the other half got a placebo. Each person was then HIV tested at regular intervals for 3 years. The result was that the vaccinated people were 31.2% less likely to have contracted HIV than the placebo group. SA-WEEEET!!!

Now, exciting as the news is, it's not perfect. 31% is significant, but nowhere near good enough to release to the public. Even more troubling is that this vaccine was developed for a very specific strain of HIV found in Southeast Asia, which means it may not work on other strains in other parts of the world.

But you know what? I'm not going to let it kill my buzz. This is the best result in 20 years of research. Yes, this is fantastic news and I'm frickin' STOKED! Check out this more in-depth article courtesy of the folks at the NYT! This calls for celebration, people!!