科學家樂觀地認為，艾滋病毒疫苗可能在2021年研制成功

科學家樂觀地認為，艾滋病毒疫苗可能在2021年研制成功

Treatment for individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has come a long way in the past couple of decades, but a vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus has long been a seemingly unattainable holy grail for scientists.

在過去的幾十年里，人類免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)感染者的治療取得了長足的進步，但預防病毒傳播的疫苗似乎一直是科學家們可望而不可及的圣杯。

However, that could change very soon, as researchers are steadily advancing trials of HIV vaccines which show incredible potential.

然而，這種情況可能很快就會改變，因為研究人員正在穩(wěn)步推進艾滋病疫苗的試驗，這些試驗顯示出了令人難以置信的潛力。

As NBC News reports, scientists have developed a trio of potential HIV vaccines that are still undergoing rigorous trials, but the drugs have entered the final stage of testing and scientists are optimistic.

據(jù)美國全國廣播公司新聞報道，科學家已經開發(fā)出三種可能的艾滋病疫苗，目前仍在進行嚴格的試驗，但藥物已經進入最后的測試階段，科學家對此持樂觀態(tài)度。

If things continue to progress at the current rate, HIV vaccines could begin to enter availability by 2021.

如果事情繼續(xù)以目前的速度發(fā)展，艾滋病毒疫苗可能會在2021年開始進入可獲得性。

Dr. Susan Buchbinder, director of the Bridge HIV research program at the San Francisco Department of Public Health described the success of the trials so far as “one of the most optimistic moments we have been in.”

舊金山公共衛(wèi)生部“橋”艾滋病毒研究項目主任蘇珊·布赫賓德(Susan Buchbinder)博士稱，這些試驗的成功是“我們經歷過的最樂觀的時刻之一”。

“We have three vaccines currently being tested in efficacy trials,” she told NBC, “and it takes quite a bit to actually be promising enough in the earlier stages of trials to move you forward into an efficacy study.”

“我們目前有三種疫苗正在進行有效性試驗，”她告訴NBC，“在試驗的早期階段，需要相當長的一段時間才能真正有足夠的希望讓你進入有效性研究。”

But HIV isn’t a one-trick pony. There are multiple subtypes of the virus that are present around the globe and different vaccines designed to target one or more of these variants would be crucial to waging a global war against the illness.

但是，艾滋病毒不是一匹會耍詭計的小馬。這種病毒有多種亞型，它們分布在全球各地，針對其中一種或多種變體設計的不同疫苗對發(fā)動全球抗擊這種疾病的戰(zhàn)爭至關重要。

Of the three HIV vaccines currently progressing through trials, one is built specifically to target a subtype of the virus that has devastated portions of southern Africa, while the other two are designed to combat a broad range of HIV variants.

目前正在進行試驗的三種艾滋病毒疫苗中，有一種是專門針對一種摧毀了南非部分地區(qū)的艾滋病毒亞型而研制的，而另外兩種則是針對多種艾滋病毒變體而設計的。

The administration of the vaccines is somewhat demanding, requiring multiple injections over a series of doctor visits. The trials are helping health officials better understand the rates at which the drugs can prevent the spread of HIV while also revealing differences in effectiveness between segments of the population. A vaccine may be more effective in young African women but not as effective in middle-aged white men, for example.

疫苗的管理有些苛刻，需要在一系列的醫(yī)生探訪中多次注射。這些試驗正在幫助衛(wèi)生官員更好地了解藥物預防艾滋病毒傳播的速度，同時也揭示了不同人群之間的有效性差異。例如，疫苗對年輕的非洲女性可能更有效，但對中年白人男性就沒有那么有效。

Eventually, the researchers working on the vaccines hope to advance their understanding of how the virus reacts to the drugs. This could lead to vaccines that require far fewer injections, perhaps even reaching a point where a single doctor visit would be enough to protect an individual.

最終，研究疫苗的研究人員希望進一步了解病毒對藥物的反應。這會讓疫苗更少的注射，甚至可能只是一個點，乃至一個醫(yī)生的到訪即可以保護一個人。