Washington: Recruiters Seeking Volunteers to Help Stop the Spread of HIV

Seattle is one of 27 sites on four continents participating in an HIV vaccine trial. The Seattle HIV Vaccine Trials Unit has six recruiters who visit gay and straight bars in the city's Capitol Hill area to recruit HIV-negative volunteers, ages 18 to 50, to participate in the trial.

Over nearly ten years, more than 20,000 volunteers in 94 clinical trials have tested more than 56 possible HIV vaccines. None has been successful.

Since recruitment began in Capitol Hill in April, 50 people have volunteered for the trial, according to recruiter Jarred Lathrop. Worldwide, the study needs 3,000 people, so each site will recruit until the slots are full, expected by the end of February.

Lathrop and recruiter Patrick Carr said only one out of every 40 people they talk to volunteers for the trial. Carr said one misconception is that volunteers can contract the disease by taking part in a trial. Lathrop said, "I don't think people are apathetic, but HIV and AIDS aren't on the forefront like they used to be." Both said people do not want to hear about HIV/AIDS when they are at a bar with friends, and that some people still think the disease will not affect them.

For more information about the trials, visit www.seattlevaccines.org, www.aidsinfo.nih.gov or www.hvtn.org.

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