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Vaccine Appears to Ward Off Bird Flu
As a British company develops methods to deliver bird flu vaccine, three U.S. universities tested four dosages of an experimental vaccine on 452 adults. Initial results are promising, but officials say more testing is needed.
(By Bruno Vincent -- Getty Images)
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The vaccine was administered in four dosages to 452 healthy adults beginning in April. They received a booster shot four weeks later. Blood samples showed the level of antibodies produced by the subjects' immune systems rose in direct proportion to the dose they received, with the strongest dose producing what is considered an adequate response, Fauci said.
"That put the antibody level in the range that you would predict would be protective. Obviously, you never know until you test it in the field. But generally you can pretty much gauge that if you get the antibody level up to a certain value, that pretty much guarantees protection," Fauci said.
The federal government has purchased 2 million doses of the vaccine and plans to buy more. The results will help officials determine how to package the vaccine for use if necessary.
"These results will guide us to the appropriate dose and dose regimen," he said.
After further studies in healthy adults, including testing another booster shot, researchers next plan to begin evaluating the vaccine in other groups, such as the elderly and children -- two groups that tend to be particularly vulnerable to the flu, Fauci said.
"When we get this nailed down, then we will move on to the elderly, probably in the next month or so," Fauci said.
Several other countries are also trying to develop vaccines against the virus, and the government plans to test another vaccine produced by Chiron Corp., but the Sanofi Pasteur vaccine is the furthest along, Fauci said.
The one drug that seems able to prevent infection and reduce the virus's spread is sold as Tamiflu. More than two dozen countries and the WHO are stockpiling it. But supplies are so limited that it would be impossible to treat everyone in the event of an outbreak.
Last week, two groups of scientists reported the results of the most sophisticated analyses of how a pandemic could be stopped. Computer models indicated that a pandemic could be stifled within about a week with drugs and quarantines. But experts said that many uncertainties remained and that an effective vaccine could be invaluable.
