How optimistic should we be about the recent HIV vaccine trial?

If it proves safe and effective, that’s wonderful.

My heart goes out to those didn’t survive to see this day.

I hope it works.

I doubt it would be utilized widespread in the US, but high risk populations hopefully would be on board for it. Probably, that was partly why biotech companies didn’t pursue it very much, because the target market would be just gay men and addicts. Although, it would be smart for people in the healthcare field, and really everyone for that matter, but I have my doubts heterosexuals will get the shot in big numbers.

Many African countries could really benefit from a vaccine too.

I lost a lot of wonderful people who I worked with to that horrible virus.

I am very excited about. Approximately a billion people in Africa are excited about it.

Greatly optimistic. Always. Wish it came out in the 80s.

Such a long time in the making. I’m very optimistic!

@JLeslie It’s really anyone in the high-risk sex category who would likely benefit, which would include anyone having unprotected sex with someone outside of a monogamous relationship. That would include most/many college students and young adults. You’re talking more PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) or PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), which is for people having sex with partners known to or likely to have HIV. You’re right that many heterosexuals do not consider themselves at high risk, but (as I’m sure you know) it is an incorrect belief. I don’t remember stats off the top of my head, but I believe black women are one of the fastest-growing risk groups.

I bet it becomes required for college in the future. We’ll see.

It’s pretty interesting stuff. Truvada is an excellent medicine, but the fact that it’s expensive and you have to take it daily has prevented it from attacking this virus on a global scale, as had been hoped. Any time a new frontier is pushed in vaccines, also, is exciting.

@Cupcake I completely agree heterosexuals have a false sense of security, some of them anyway. I’m right on board with you and everything you said. I just think there will be resistance in the Evangelical community to get their children vaccinated (I can see it being paired with the HPV vaccine) and there will be resistance among a lot of heterosexual adults for themselves also to believe they are vulnerable. especially women in monogamous relationships. Of course we know women in “monogamous” relationships get HPV and HIV and other STD’s from their SO’s.

I do think women will be more likely to feel vulnerable than heterosexual men, and in some ways woman are actually more vulnerable because of anatomy. Also, women often have worse symptoms from STD so if they have been through one they believe it can happen, while men stay in their denial even when it has happened to them.

You mention Black women, I think the Black community is more likely to have men on the down low (gay sex in secret) and men who won’t use a condoms.

Supposedly, back in the 80’s, there was a big concern about the Hispanic community also, because of the macho men, similar to the Black community, and also girls thinking they need to stay virgins so they were having anal sex, I am not sure how founded that reasoning was. I can tell you my sister was a big sister with Catholic Charities and her little sister said to her at one point she wouldn’t use a condom if she had sex, because then it is like two sins, so double as bad. First sin is having sex and second sin is preventing a baby. Hopefully, my sister got through to her to use some sort of birth control if she had sex. As far as I know she did not wind up to be a teenage mom.