Canary pox holds promise for AIDS: U.S., Thailand testing vaccine.(Science/Health)

Washington Times, The, February, 1997 by Catalano, Peter

Poised for a crucial second phase of trials this spring, an experimental AIDS vaccine represents a shift in public-health strategy and a giant leap for science. Edward Jenner astonished the world in 1796 by injecting cowpox into humans to immunize them from smallpox; two centuries later, scientists are injecting a canary-pox virus to prevent HIV infections.

The canary-pox vaccine, which will undergo trials for safety and efficacy in the United States and Thailand, is considered the best candidate for the elusive AIDS vaccine. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD), the AIDS-research community has a new attitude toward developing and testing an AIDS vaccine. "Vaccines are one of...