02:09 PM CDT on Thursday, July 21, 2005

By Dr. Karen Johnson / 11 News

Every day 16,000 people acquire the HIV virus. Even though it's no longer a death sentence, there is much work to be done.

Despite effective drugs to treat patients with HIV, there are no cures on the horizon. While a vaccine is the best hope to prevent HIV, vaccine development is a challenge because the virus constantly mutates.

John McGuire, 39, has joined a research study to test a vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"I have had friends contract the disease and these were people I also thought were safe. It's easy to make a mistake. And I thought 'there is still a lot of work to be done' and I wanted to be there to help," he says.

Half of the people in the six-year study will receive a vaccine, the other half will receive a placebo.

"Despite all the public health measures -- that is, we tell people to practice safer sex, use condoms, we test blood and we encourage people not to reuse needles. All of these things which we call public health measures haven't stopped the epidemic," says Dr. Stephen Tyring of the UTMB Center for Clinical Studies.

Juan Alvarado has also joined the study. "I was going through adolescence at a time when a lot of people were contracting the disease. It was called "the gay cancer" and stuff like that and I was really afraid of catching it," he says.

The study is looking for high risk men and women with no history of HIV infection.

If you are interested in the study call the Center for Clinical Studies at 281-333-2288.