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U.S launches Clinical Trial For HIV Vaccine That Uses mRNA Technology

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2 years ago

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Experimental mRNA HIV vaccine shows promise in pre-clinical studies

A biotech firm in U.S announced Thursday that it’s launched early-stage clinical trials of an HIV mRNA vaccine.

Moderna has teamed up with the nonprofit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative to develop the shot, which uses the same technology as Moderna’s successful COVID-19 vaccine.

The first participants in the Phase I trial were given doses at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., according to a company statement.

“We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna’s mRNA platform,” Dr. Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI, said in a statement. “The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine.”j

Nearly 38 million people worldwide — including about 1.3 million in the U.S — are living with HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, which can lead to the potentially fatal disease AIDS.

Being diagnosed with HIV was once considered a death sentence. During the height of the U.S. AIDS epidemic in the mid-1990s, more than 50,000 deaths occurred every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Today, HIV is much more manageable with medications that can reduce viral loads to undetectable so the virus can’t be transmitted, as well as pills that can be taken to prevent infecting those who are HIV-negative.

But despite decades of research, no vaccine has ever been developed. Several candidates have entered clinical trials but failed in later stages.

The new vaccine uses mRNA, or messenger RNA, which teaches the body’s cells how to make proteins that trigger immune responses.

Researchers have developed not only a primary vaccine but also a booster to deliver HIV immunogens — molecules that elicit an immune response — via mRNA.

The hope is this process can induce specific white blood cells, called B cells, which can then turn into what are known as broadly neutralizing antibodies that can neutralize the virus.

According to the statement, Phase I of the trial will enroll 56 healthy, HIV-negative adult participants at GWU and three additional sites: Hope Clinic of Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle; and the University of Texas-Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Of the volunteers, 48 will receive one or two doses of the mRNA vaccine, and 32 also will receive the booster. The remaining eight will receive just the booster.

Source: ABC News’ Sony Salzman.

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Scandalous! — Mahama Reacts To Nearly $1m And €300k Sanitation Minister’s Home Theft

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2 months ago

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July 21, 2023

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Photo: Cecilia Abena Dapaah & John Dramini Mahama

Former President John Dramini Mahama has reacted after news of the robbery of the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources broke out.

According to the Chronicle newspaper, two househelps of the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, have allegedly stolen items including, US$1 million, €300,000, and millions of Ghana cedis from her home.

The robbery happened between July and October 2022.

The accused, 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei, are facing charges before an Accra Circuit Court.

In a tweet posted on Friday, the former president questioned the minister’s choice to keep such a substantial sum of money at her residence.

“$1m + €300k and millions of GHS in a Ghanaian Minister’s home?
Scandalous!!

Even if genuinely acquired, why keep millions of hard currency at home?
Will @NAkufoAddo ever set a good example for public office holders in his administration?”, he tweed.

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All you need to know about the Women from the “Hamar tribe in Ethiopia and their culture”-

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2 years ago

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March 11, 2022

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Women from the Hamar tribe in Ethiopia are whipped to show their love for men going through Rite of Passage ceremony. The beatings go on until their backs turn bloody. They are not allowed to scream. They even beg the men to do this again and again because that’s their belief and culture.

They are said to be abreast with everything happening around the world,  but that has not stopped them from practising a rather bizarre culture of women proudly accepting beatings as part of an initiation ceremony for men.
On the eastern side of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia, the Hamar tribe have unique culture and customs, one of them being a cattle-jumping ceremony where the beatings of the women take place.

Read Also:One year ago today, Pres. Joe Biden signs American Rescue Plan –

The ceremony starts with all the female relatives performing a dance, during the dance they offer themselves as subjects to be whipped by men who have recently been initiated.

The beatings go on until their backs turns into blood. During the beatings, women are not allowed to scream, they do not also flee the ceremony but rather beg the men to beat them over and over again whilst dancing.

The women accept these beatings to show their love and support of the initiate, and their scars give them a right to demand his help in time of need.
The man must subsequently leap across 16 cows in order to be allowed to marry and once that is achieved a celebration is held to end the ceremony
beatings are not just ceremonial.

Also Read:My body and boobs is not a mistake — Nigerian lady
Women in the Hamar tribe are subject to beatings even after the ceremony at any time the man pleases unless they give birth to at least two or three children.
The rules of the tribe also say that,

“men do not need to explain why they are beating the women as they can do so as and when they feel is right.”

This has created deep scars at the backs of the women which they proudly show off as beautiful according to them.
In spite of these, women in the Hamar tribe are expected to be strong like the men and are supposed to do all household chores, take care of the children and sow crops as well as keep the cattle.

Hamar men can also marry more than one woman, but the women who are not first wives are treated more like slaves as they do a majority of the work.

Read also: Songwriters Protest Spotify In LA: ‘I Just Want to Be Able to Pay My Bills’

 

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One year ago today, Pres. Joe Biden signs American Rescue Plan –

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2 years ago

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March 11, 2022

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President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law on Thursday 11th March, finalizing an early policy victory that will send much-needed aid to millions of Americans still struggling from the COVID-19 pandemic. And today marks one year He signed for that Rescue plan.

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“It helped deliver 500 million shot in arms, the biggest single year of job growth in history and the largest one-year drop in unemployment on record. ” said earlier today by, Kamala Haris

 

 

He said on that day, “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of the United States and giving people of the nation, working people, middle class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance,”

Mr. Biden said before signing the bill, one day earlier than expected.

Also Read: My body and boobs is not a mistake — Nigerian lady

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