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The drug is a blend of a canary pox vaccine and a failed HIV vaccine known as AIDSVAX. |
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The combination proved to lower the risk of the disease by 32 percent among the 16,000 Thai volunteers on which it was tested, according to a team of researchers from Thailand and the United States. |
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這種藥混合了金絲雀痘疫苗和失敗的 HIV 疫苗 AIDSVAX。根據來自泰國及美國的研究小組表示，這樣的混合劑在一萬六千名泰國志願受試者中，已證實能降低百分之三十二的感染風險。 |
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"We had 74 infections in the placebo group and 51 in the vaccine group," said Dr. Jerome Kim, a U.S. Army colonel at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland. |
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服役於馬里蘭沃爾特里德軍事研究所的美國陸軍上校傑若米‧金博士表示：「在使用無效對照劑的組別中我們有七十四人感染，在使用疫苗的組別則有五十一人。」 |
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The results of the trial were almost completely unexpected. |
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Puzzled researchers were at a loss to explain exactly why the combination of two failed drugs worked.
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Prior to the drug trials, critics complained that the test itself was unethical and a waste of funds because there was little evidence that it would be successful. |
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這個試驗的結果幾乎沒人料到。困惑的研究人員不知該如何解釋為什麼這兩種失敗藥劑的混合物會有效。在這個藥物試驗之前，有批評抱怨這項測試不道德而且是浪費錢，因為沒什麼證據顯示這能成功。 |
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"Myself, like others, did not think there was a very high chance that this would give any degree of efficacy," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped finance the study. |
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"But nonetheless, we went ahead with the trial and it was controversial to go ahead with it." |
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「我自己和其他人一樣，並不認為這個藥劑有什麼展現功效的可能性，」有協助挹注此研究的美國國家過敏症暨傳染病研究所的安東尼．佛西博士表示：「但我們仍持續進行試驗，而這便引發了爭議。」 |
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The outcome of the trial was clouded further by the fact that those test subjects who did develop AIDS after receiving the drug had the same amount of the virus in their bodies as those that did not receive the vaccine. |
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Researchers believe this shows that the drug does not affect the virus once it has already established itself in the body. |
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這項試驗的結果還有另一項令人難以理解之處，就是已罹患愛滋病的受試者在投藥之後，他們體內的病毒量和沒有接受疫苗的人一樣多。研究人員相信，這顯示一旦身體已遭病毒感染，這個藥劑對病毒就沒有影響力。 |
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On the positive side, the outcome of the drug trial demonstrates that a vaccine is possible, according to Kim. |
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根據金的說法，從積極面來看，這個藥物試驗的結果顯示愛滋疫苗是有可能做出來的。 |
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"Although the level of protection that we saw was clearly modest, the study is a major scientific advance," Kim said. |
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"It is the first evidence that the development of a safe and effective vaccine is possible. |
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Although we don't have all the answers now, it does have important implications for the future of HIV vaccine design." |
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「雖然防疫效果明顯不高，但這項研究是個重大的科學進展，」金說道：「這是首次有證據證明研發安全又有效的疫苗是可能的。雖然我們現在還不能完全解釋，但這對未來設計愛滋病毒疫苗有重要的含意。」 |
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