H5N1 research gathers pace
The race to develop a vaccine against a future influenza pandemic continues, with two new reports of progress published online.
Chinese researchers tested inactivated whole-virion H5N1 influenza adjuvanted
with aluminium hydroxide in 120 volunteers. The vaccine produced promising
immune responses (78 per cent seropositivity) and no serious adverse
events with a two-dose regimen. The researchers suggest that manufacturing
capacity would increase if a whole-virion approach is used, because up
to 30 per cent of vaccine antigen is expected to be lost during manufacture
of split-virion vaccines (Lancet, 7 September 2006).
In another study, US researchers tested a live attenuated cold-adapted
H5N1 vaccine in mice and ferrets. A single dose was poorly immunogenic
but provided complete protection from lethal challenge with H5N1 viruses
in mice. A second dose protected ferrets from viral replication in the
lungs (PLoS Medicine, September
2006).
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader