H1N1 trial for Aids-infected women and children set to start

A new trial to test whether the H1N1 vaccine will draw out a protective immune system for children and pregnant women with HIV is set to begin later this month.

The International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group is conducting the research.

It is being funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Anthony Fauci, managing director for NIAID, commented: "These studies are important because HIV infection and pregnancy both increase the risk for a poor immune response to the normal 15-microgram dose of seasonal influenza vaccine given to the general population."

The trials will involve 130 HIV-infected pregnant women and 140 children and youths who have had HIV since birth.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that more than four million people in low and middle-income countries were getting treatment for HIV by the end of last year.

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