medpundit |
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Thursday, March 30, 2006The nation’s first vaccine against bird flu is only modestly effective, producing apparent protection in slightly over half the people who receive two mega-dose shots, initial testing shows. ....Further complicating matters: This first H5N1 vaccine is already outdated, based on a version of the virus culled in Vietnam in 2004. Scientists now are creating a vaccine based on a slightly different Indonesian version that emerged last year; they don’t yet know how much protection the older vaccine would spur against the newer virus. They're only able to "guesstimate" the effectiveness by measuring antibody responses, since there aren't enough cases of human bird flu to test its true worth. The effectiveness of regular influenza vaccine varies from season to season and according to the health of the population receiving it, but for people with emphysema, it can be up to 76% effective. And in healthy adults, up to 70-90% effective. The avian flu vaccine might, in practice, be more effective than the antibody studies indicate. It's anyone's guess, and we won't know until (or if) there's a pandemic. posted by Sydney on 3/30/2006 08:31:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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