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Volunteers doing their part in HIV/AIDS research
Lumka Oliphant . 21 May 2005. Saturday Star. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Aubrey Ngcobo, 34, of Dube, Soweto, is proud to have done something that may help end to HIV/AIDS.
"People are dying: I have friends who died of this disease so, whatever I can do to help, I will always take that opportunity," he says.
Ngcobo is one of the courageous volunteers who took part in vaccine trials a year ago at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital's perinatal HIV research unit.
Ngcobo saw the trials as a challenge. "I was not worried about anything, I just wanted to help and I saw this as a challenge," he said. Now ready for the second phase, he is calling on other young and healthy people to come and join in trials.
His fellow volunteer, Fikile Mkhatshwa, is blunt about the impact of HIV: "People are dying every day. Our cemeteries are getting full and it is young people that are dying the most."
But this week, the 33-year-old from Orlando East was able to celebrate. A whole year on - while HIV may be one of the country's leading killers and the battle over anti-retrovirals is far from finished - the trials seem to have been a success.
The unit is not claiming victory yet but Ngcobo, Mkhatshwa and others who took part have not recorded any serious side effects. Once HIV clinicians give the data analysis the thumbs up, the second phase is due to begin - next year.
The trials - which began in 2003 - involved 55 HIV-negative young volunteers from Soweto. This week they took to the streets of their community celebrating International Vaccine Awareness Day while also sensitising people to the importance of testing for the virus and "knowing your status".
Mkhatshwa's view is that "we hear every day of children who have become orphans, so I don't have the money and the scientific knowledge to contribute towards the fight against this disease but I have a healthy body which I can give up to help future generations".
She said she first heard of the trials when she went to the New Nurses Home at Bara for her HIV test. "After my results came back negative, I was informed about the trials and was told that they needed volunteers who were HIV-negative to come and help."
She had been reluctant at first on being told that for the trials she would have to be injected with "harmless particles or copies of the particle of the virus".
"I did not understand this, because to me it sounded as if, for them to know if this thing worked I would have to have HIV/AIDS. But we were given all the knowledge until we got the courage to do it."
Mkhatshwa said another frightening thing was that after she had gone for her first injection "nobody knew if the vaccine was safe or not: we did not know it and the doctors did not know.
"But luckily, out of the group nobody showed any side effects and this means that we can proceed to the second phase, which will test again vaccine safety and immune-system response to the vaccine."
Dr Simnikiwe Mayaphi, an investigator at the perinatal HIV unit, said he and other researchers hoped to complete the first phase of the trial programme by the end of this month.
He said the information would be sent away for data analysis and after that the second phase would begin.
"We are delighted that so far no serious side effects have been reported and we have had an overwhelming response from the community," said Mayaphi.
What is a vaccine? It's a substance that teaches the body to recognise and defend itself against bacteria and viruses that cause disease. A vaccine spurs a response from the immune system, preparing it to fight if exposed to the virus at a later time. A successful vaccine can cause the body to stop or disable an invading virus. It is not a cure, but ideally prevents infection or slows disease progression.
How does the HIV vaccine work? A successful HIV vaccine will teach the body to recognise the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS. Once vaccinated, a person's immune system will "remember" how to fight back if HIV is encountered at a later date.
Can an HIV vaccine cause AIDS? No. HIV vaccines do not contain any live HI virus that could spread and cause infection. HIV vaccines generally contain no harmless particles or copies of particles of the virus that cannot cause infection. An HIV vaccine is like a motor car with its engine removed. It is still recognisable as a car but it cannot be driven. |
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