Future

Does Sputnik V vaccine promote AIDS infection?

After suspending the vaccination campaign with the AstraZeneca vaccine due to ineffectiveness against the South African version, South Africa has now put the Russian vaccine Sputnik V under surveillance. It is not the lack of its efficacy that is in question (although we do not have data. On this subject), but adenovirus is used as a viral vector in this vaccine. According to The Lancet, this type of 5 adenovirus (Ad5) is actually suspected to increase the risk of HIV infection. After various studies on the subject, a conference on Ad5 vectors concluded that in 2013 the immune response to HIV virus may be reduced. And advised against its use in areas with high prevalence of AIDS. However, with a prevalence of 19% among adults between the ages of 15 and 49, South Africa is one of the most affected countries in the world. According to a hypothesis put forward by researchers, the immune response to Ad5 decreases the activity of TDC4 and TDC8 lymphocytes specific to HIV. “It should be carefully considered before further development of the Ad5 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2,” warns the authors of the Lancet article. South Africa, the Novavax vaccine, was also criticized for its low efficacy with the variant. All residues that belong to Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (which also work with the viral vector but are different from Sputnik V) immunize two-thirds of its population, or 40 million people. A challenge for the country, the hardest hit in Africa by the coronovirus epidemic.