text_1: There's a promising new HIV vaccine candidate in the pipeline
text_2: This story about an experimental HIV vaccine gets off on the wrong foot by describing the research as “promising,” which we’ve previously flagged as one of 7 words that shouldn’t be used in medical news. Why not? As our publisher, Gary Schwitzer, wrote: “The word promising means ‘likely to be successful’ or ‘to give a basis for expecting.’ There is far too much uncertainty in medicine for this word to be applied loosely in the coverage of medicine.” Despite this initial misstep, the story does quickly establish the preliminary nature of the research and cautions that it’s much too soon to know if the vaccine will ultimately be effective in preventing HIV infections. It also does a nice job of putting this research in context with other HIV prevention efforts that have succeeded in slowing the spread of the disease. More attention to the possible costs of a vaccine — a huge issue for the developing world countries most affected by the virus — would have rounded out this otherwise solid effort. This new vaccine approach, if proven ultimately to be effective, safe and affordable, could make a major difference in resource-poor settings around the world. But, as we’ve written about, the field of vaccine research related to HIV is littered with huge obstacles and there are never any guarantees that drug therapies will ever be accessible to the poorest parts of the world, where the need for a vaccine might be greatest. News stories on any vaccine under development should take care to point out these obstacles.