Better Bird Flu Vaccine: Some good news for a change

[robcon]

Maker Calls New Bird Flu Vaccine More Effective
By DENISE GRADY Published: July 27, 2006

"A new vaccine against bird flu developed by GlaxoSmithKline is more effective than any previous version and works at a far smaller dose, the company reported yesterday on its Web site.

The ability to immunize people with small doses greatly increases the possibility of making enough vaccine to protect much of the population in the event of a pandemic.

Until now, high dosage requirements have been a major obstacle to making a vaccine for avian flu. An earlier vaccine, made a year ago by Sanofi Pasteur and stockpiled by the government, required such large doses that it would be difficult or impossible to keep up with a pandemic.

GlaxoSmithKline said it had tested its vaccine in Belgium in 400 healthy people, ages 18 to 60, who were then given blood tests to measure their immune systems’ response. The tests showed that more than 80 percent of the subjects were protected by two shots, each containing only 3.8 micrograms of an antigen, an immunity-stimulating substance made from the bird flu virus.

By contrast, the first Sanofi vaccine protected only about 50 percent of the test subjects, who received two shots with much higher doses, 90 micrograms each..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/health/27vaccine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[babylonsister]

1. I wonder if Rummy still reaps the financial benefits? nt

[originalpckelly]

3. You are thinking of Gilead, and that was Tamiflu...

a drug that is supposed to treat those who already have the flu. With Avian Influenza it is markedly less effective than it is in standard influenza.

[smirkymonkey]

2. I hope it's nice and expensive too so that the poor pharmaceutical

companies can benefit from all these hyped up scare tactics. It's only fair.

[MercutioATC]

4. There IS no "bird flu" vaccine for one simple reason...

Nobody knows what the human-to-human mutation of H5N1 will look like.

This isn't a vaccine for H2H "bird flu". Neither are Relenza or Tamiflu (they stimulate the body's immune system...they're not vaccines).

(and stimulating the immune system might not be such a good idea...Google "Cytokine Storm" for an explanation)