By Felix Cheung
A novel vaccine can provide protection against swine flu for the majority of people between 12 and 60 years of age
Original article citation
Zhu, F. C. et al. A novel influenza A (H1N1) vaccine in various age groups. N. Eng. J. Med. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0908535 (2009).
Introduction
Public healthFlu protection for all ages
The 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus, or swine flu, has caused large numbers of severe respiratory illnesses in countries around the world — especially in Mexico and the United States where the virus originated. The influenza activity is likely to continue for years to come, so there is an urgent need to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Fengcai Zhu at the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Nanjing and co-workers1 have conducted a clinical trial on a novel vaccine that was recently approved for sale in China. They found that the vast majority of people who received the vaccine developed immunity to the influenza A (H1N1) virus.
The researchers recruited 2,200 subjects between 3 and 77 years of age for their clinical trial. The subjects received either the vaccine or a placebo at various doses, with or without alum adjuvant (an immune stimulant).
The subjects did not show any severe adverse side effects associated with the vaccine. However, 5.5 to 15.9% of subjects in the vaccine-without-alum-adjuvant group showed injection-site or systemic reactions, although the reactions were mostly mild in nature.
The researchers found that a single 15 mug dose of vaccine without alum adjuvant had the best effect on subjects. In particular, 97.1% subjects between 12 and 60 years of age achieved immunity against the influenza A (H1N1) virus within 21 days of vaccination.
The authors of this work are from:
Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, China; National Institute for Control of Pharmaceuticals and Biological Products, Beijing, China; Taizhou Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Taizhou, China; Hualan Biological Bacterin Company, Xinxiang, China; Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Reference
1. Zhu, F. C. et al. A novel influenza A (H1N1) vaccine in various age groups. N. Eng. J. Med. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0908535 (2009). | Article
