EUROPE/ITALY - Missionaries working with dying AIDS patients draw new hope for these most unfortunate people on the planet thanks to an Italian AIDS vaccine which has passed first tests

Rome (Fides Service) - New hope and gounded this time for people of Africa suffering from the scourge of AIDS which threatens most people living in precarious conditions comes from an Italian TAT protein based AIDS vaccine. This is good news for the many missionaries all over the world assisting people with HIV/AIDS.
The vaccine produced by a research team at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità led by Barbara Ensoli is safe and well tolerated and has stimulated imunity response in healthy and HIV volunteers.
The main aim of first tests on humans was to verify that the vaccine is safe and non toxic. The second tests will be carried out in Italy and in Africa where AIDS is widespread.
TAT protein regulates the virus. The vaccine cannot stop the virus from entering but it can stop it from working and reproducing, hence its preventive function. Infection ocurs in fact when the virus enters the cell and starts to multiply. It is important to stop it at this stage. In tests on monkeys the infection did not evolve.
The virus may start a cycle of reproduction but this can be controlled by an immunity system which functions well. International information agrees that the first stages establish the evolution of the disease. In this case, with monkeys, the reproduction process was checked and the disease was kept under control. (AP) (6/7/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:32; Parole:403)