Thailand study: HIV vaccine seems to be actually working

HIV vaccine in the works is actually working

Tuning in to Twitter this morning, many are wondering why the trending topics got so “sexy.”

A number of sex-related terms appeared, with one in particular (HIV) showing most prominently and for the longest amount of time.

mC301 (Largo, Maryland) why is there so much AIDS HIV speak on twitter this AM? @Tracefacemagee @epicfoxx 24 Sep 2009 from mobile web

albertnow (Manila, Philippines) I wonder why HIV is trending… 24 Sep 2009 from web

teebabyyy75 (Lexington, Kentucky) Do I even wanna know why HIV is trending? 24 Sep 2009 from Echofon

The mystery of why #HIV is a trending topic this morning is because AP reports that a vaccine was found to prevent HIV by more than 31 percent of the time, a first in the medical world. The $105 million study was conducted by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health on more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand.

Twitterers responded to this new discovery:

markporter (Madison, Wisconsin) Who expected this? It may be only 31%, but that’s more than 0! WSJ.com – Experimental HIV Vaccine Raises Hopes http://bit.ly/zGsFB 24 Sep 2009 from web

RedPumpProj (U.S.) This newly tested HIV vaccine could make great impact in the prevention of the spread of the virus. It was tested on 16K ppl in Thailand 24 Sep 2009 from HootSuite

LuvvieIG (Chicago, Illinois) HIV as a trending topic is one I fully support. Follow @redpumpproj @redtieproj & help raise awareness about its impact 24 Sep 2009 from HootSuite

gregs1385 (Undisclosed) Halo 3 ODST!How did they test this HIV vaccine? Did they give subjects the virus then the vaccine? 24 Sep 2009 from web

Admist this good news, other trending topics like #beforesex, #duringsex and #aftersex appeared too. Is there an apparent connection? Some Twitterers shared their warning that 31 percent is still a low number and that there is a difference between HIV and AIDS.

inetespionage (Miami, Florida) I’m really happy for a vaccine for HIV and all, but I hope this doesn’t give folks the green light to be even more foul than they are. 24 Sep 2009 from Seesmic

ilv2yam (Detroit, Michigan) day has no signs of the virus @all. its ur business who u screw, but its our business if u get infected. take #HIV serious and use f’n condm 24 Sep 2009 from web

YUNGNEEN (Undisclosed) That’s a good look tho..4 starters! Agree? RT @barbiebad218: All y’all dumb it dnt say it cure it it says it prevents hiv up to 31% not aids 24 Sep 2009 from UberTwitter

Many Twitterers shared the good news that the institute’s director Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result.” Whereas others are still skeptical about the vaccine and its value:

MissKarley (Washington, D.C.) with all these sex tt yall freaky buts better be glad they workin on this HIV Vaccine with some success 24 Sep 2009 from web

butterfli25 (Undisclosed) HIV vaccine,I don’t know about that one. Who did they test it on? clinical trials? wanting to know who stands to really profit. 24 Sep 2009 from TwitterGadget