HIV vaccine trial volunteers may face social blow

HIV vaccine trial volunteers may face social blow
Haitian-American Rapper Wyclef Jean, seen here in october 2007, blasted a US study that said AIDS made its way to the United States via Haiti as prejudicial and unjust.(AFP/DDP/File)NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many volunteers who take partin clinical trials of experimental HIV vaccines report negativesocial consequences because of their participation in thestudies, according to a new report.
"Since a majority of the negative social impact events weredue to negative reactions from friends and family whomisinterpreted what a preventive HIV vaccine trial entails,trial sites need to continue their educational efforts withboth study participants and with local communities emphasizingthat you cannot become HIV-infected from the vaccine itself andthat these trials seek HIV-negative individuals toparticipate," Dr. Jonathan Fuchs told Reuters Health.
Fuchs, from the San Francisco Department of Public Health,and his associates evaluated the negative social impactsreported by 5417 mostly male volunteers in an HIV vaccineefficacy trial.
Just under 1000 volunteers reported negative social eventsduring 36 months of follow-up.
Most such events were negative reactions from friends,family, and partners, the authors report in the Journal ofAcquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. These reactions wereprimarily attributed to a misunderstanding of the volunteer'sHIV status or risk of infection.
Less than 1 percent of the group reported problems withdisability or life insurance, employment, medical or dentalcare, health insurance, government agencies, or housing.
Among the 368 participants who became infected with HIVafter enrollment in the trial, only 12 reported a negativesocial incident, the investigators say. Most involved personalrelationships, such as friends or family members asserting thatthe vaccine caused the individual to become HIV-infected ormore susceptible to infection.
Although the vaccine could affect HIV test results, none ofthe HIV antibody-related negative social events reported by 29volunteers were attributed to vaccine-induced antibody results,the researchers note.
"A substantial proportion of vaccinees may test'false-positive' on a standard HIV antibody screening test,"Fuchs explained. "Providers should remember to first askwhether their patients have participated in an HIV vaccinetrial before they perform HIV testing, to avoid potentialmisinterpretation of antibody results and possible socialharm."
SOURCE: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes,November 1, 2007.