Health Bulletin

HIV vaccine brings fresh hope

A radical new approach to vaccination seems to completely protect monkeys from HIV, US scientists report.

Vaccines normally train the immune system to fight an infection. Instead, researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California have altered the DNA of monkeys to give their cells HIV-fighting properties.

The team describe it as "a big deal" and want to start human trials soon. Independent experts say the idea is worth "strong consideration".

Experiments, reported in the journal Nature, showed the monkeys were protected from all types of HIV for at least 34 weeks.

Malaria 'huge threat' on Myanmar-India border

Resistance to the drug that has saved millions of lives from malaria has been detected over a wider area than previously thought, scientists warn.

The ability of the malaria parasite to shrug off the effects of artemisinin has been spreading since it emerged in South East Asia. Tests, published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, now show this resistance on the verge of entering India.

Experts said the development was "alarming" and an "enormous threat". Deaths from malaria have nearly halved since 2000, and the infection now kills about 584,000 people each year.