The second step of a clinical trial for the first pediatric HIV vaccine, coordinated by Rome's Bambino Gesù Hospital, in cooperation with the Stockholm-based Karolisnka Institute, will kick off in 2019 in Italy, South Africa and Thailand.A reported 100 children with Aids are involved in the trial.

The Vatican-owned pediatric hospital is at the forefront of the international research project EPIICAL, which obtained funding from the US National Institute of Health, and will be able to test the vaccine in Italy, Thailand and South Africa.