We all know that being labeled "HIV positive" has huge implications for your professional life, private life, career, health insurance and much more. And most people believe that someone who tests HIV positive must be infected with HIV, right?

Wrong!

Startling new research reveals that merely taking an HIV vaccine causes 50% of those vaccinated to test positive for HIV!


http://www.naturalnews.com/029236_HIV_vaccine.html

Vaccine-Induced HIV Seropositivity/Reactivity in Noninfected HIV Vaccine Recipients
Cristine J. Cooper, PhD; Barbara Metch, MS; Joan Dragavon, MLM; Robert W. Coombs, MD, PhD; Lindsey R. Baden, MD; for the NIAID HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) Vaccine-Induced Seropositivity (VISP) Task Force

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/304/3/275

JAMA. 2010;304(3):275-283. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.926

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COMMENT

These data demonstrate that VISP is a common but highly variable outcome of trials of preventive HIV vaccines. The variability of the occurrence of VISP is dependent on the immunogenicity of the vaccine product, the HIV gene inserts, and the HIV testing kit used. This analysis did not specifically examine the vaccine dose, number of doses, administration schedule, and use of adjuvants as contributing factors to the development of VISP, because it would be difficult to assign relative importance to these factors in this cross-study analysis. By product category, rates ranged from 1% for an alphavirus replicon construct containing only a gag insert to 100% for a gp140 vaccine. VISP occurred most frequently with the HIV 1/2 (rDNA) kit (98% of those with VISP tested positive by this kit). An awareness of the potential occurrence of VISP allows for appropriate counseling and education to be provided to study participants.

Among participants with a reactive EIA result, Western blot distinguished only 24% as HIV-negative, with most (66%) having an indeterminate Western blot result with positive bands consistent with the genes included in the vaccine insert. A limitation of the HVTN data is that testing for VISP with multiple EIA kits is performed only at the end of the study, so it is not possible to distinguish effects of multiple inoculations with a given vaccine or the contribution of a single product when given as series of inoculations in combination with other products. Given the likely specificity for an insert (especially env-based inserts) to cross-react with a given detection system (EIA assay), it is difficult to predict the potential rate of VISP associated with future vaccines as delivery systems, inserts, and potential EIA detection assays are modified.

This analysis significantly expands on previous studies of VISP, which were limited in scope to a relatively small number of candidate vaccines.20, 23, 28 In contrast, our analysis includes data on 25 vaccine products given alone or in combination. The most extensive previous assessment of VISP focused on gp120, vaccinia constructs, and canarypox virus (ALVAC) HIV-1 vaccines with or without a protein boost. In the analysis by Ackers et al, none of 118 samples from studies of gp120 constructs were reactive with the HIV 1/2 (rDNA) or HIV-1 Plus O Microelisa System kits, and 13 (11%) were reactive using the rLAV EIA kit, which was not used for the HVTN protein/peptide trials.28 The results with the HIV 1/2 (rDNA) and HIV-1 Plus O Microelisa System kits were similar to our results of 1 positive among 214 participants receiving a non-gp140 protein or peptide constructs. For trials of various generations of canarypox-vectored vaccines boosted with gp120, Ackers et al observed low proportions of VISP detected by the HIV-1 Plus O Microelisa System kit, which was confirmed in our analysis. For these regimens, they observed VISP proportions of 3% to 31%, depending on the trial, using the rLAV EIA kit (not used in our analysis for these regimens). They did not use the HIV 1/2 (rDNA) kit, whereas for this kit we observed that 48% of those receiving a canarypox vaccine given with a protein or peptide boost developed VISP.

The occurrence of VISP is dependent on the immune response to the vaccine product and the sensitivity of the kit to detect reactivity to the HIV antigens it contains. In these HVTN trials, VISP was rare for vaccines not containing an env insert. This is in contrast to a 41% rate observed among participants in some trials who received either an Ad5-vectored clade B HIV-1 monovalent gag or trivalent gag/pol/nef vaccine.23 Although the difference may in part be attributable to the immunogenicity of different types of vaccines (HVTN non-env studies were primarily of alphavirus replicon or DNA vaccines), the difference also may be attributable to the EIA kits used. To increase the likelihood of detecting VISP, the HVTN EOS testing algorithm uses commercial HIV testing kits that each have a different set of HIV antigens. An example of the importance of the match (or mismatch) of vaccine insert to kit antigens is that in a study by Quirk et al, 2 of 432 recipients of non–env-containing Ad5 were reactive to env-only–containing rapid EIA kits.23

Development of a rapid, accurate HIV test that is unlikely to cross-react with vaccine construct would be a useful approach for improved serologic tests. One promising approach uses sequences that are universally found in natural infections but if omitted from the vaccine insert would reliably differentiate vaccination from natural infection by serologic testing.29 Until such an approach is available, we recommend the inclusion of an HIV RNA assay to differentiate vaccination from infection (Figure 1). Because participants with VISP may subsequently become infected with HIV, it is imperative that appropriate follow-up testing be conducted, including HIV RNA testing, to minimize potential misinterpretation of HIV test results.

HVTN trial data are limited in that testing for VISP occurs only at the end of the trial (typically 6-12 months following the final vaccination). Although participants are offered long-term HIV testing services through the HVTN if they have VISP, the HIV testing data from longer time points have not been systematically collected to date. Through requests for HIV testing services, the HVTN is aware that some participants continue to have VISP for many years (sometimes longer than 15 years) following their study participation. An observational study of VISP posttrial termination is currently in development in the HVTN.

Testing for VISP at the end of the study and providing participants with their VISP status is critically important to prevent social harms, incorrect HIV diagnosis, and inaccurate reporting to health agencies. A misinterpretation of VISP can be minimized by clinicians obtaining a complete patient history (eg, participation in an HIV vaccine trial) and interpretation of the Western blot and HIV RNA. However, given the added time and cost associated with obtaining this information, clinicians may overlook or not pursue this information. During the course of participating in an HIV vaccine study, the detection of VISP might influence a study participant's perception of the vaccine product received and may influence their behavior.30 To date, social harms related to HIV testing outside the context of the study sites have been relatively rare. However, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for routine HIV screening and "opt out" HIV testing practices, the education of participants and clinicians will be important to keep risk of social harms related to HIV testing low for HIV vaccine trial participants.