A controversial trial of an AIDS vaccine for pregnant women is in limbo because vaccine makers are afraid of being sued if any of the babies born to women in the trial suffer from birth defects. Frustrated by the delay, AIDS researchers are asking Congress this week to protect these companies so that trials can proceed.
The number of pregnant women with HIV has rocketed in the US, according to the Public Health Service. Last April, a study in 39 cities found that 1.5 out of every 1000 women who gave birth in 1989 were infected, and 6000 babies were born to infected women. As many as 80 000 women of child-bearing age may be infected. About 20 to 30 per cent of infants born to HIV-positive women are infected.
Barney Graham, an immunologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, has prepared a plan to vaccinate between 10 and 20 ...
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