VALLERIA Fiorelli is in good spirits. The Italian virologist can soon begin a clinical test of the HIV vaccine he helped developed on people. "We are awaiting final approval," said Fiorelli, from the National Health Institute in Padua, Italy.

Fiorelli deserves to be happy, and very proud. Final approval for the trial is pending, as reported by Reuters last week, but if granted it will be a valuable step forward in the fight against AIDS (Acq