Sunday, April 09, 2006
Australian vaccine maker uses bird flu virus to help find cure for virus
Medical researchers in Australia are using parts of the bird flu virus to try and develop a vaccine to combat the deadly disease.
Small portions of the virus were shipped to serum-maker CSL Limited in Parkville, Melbourne, and stored in high-security laboratories. The virus samples came from the World Health Organization from a patient in Vietnam.
The revelation comes as Britain this week confirmed its first case of bird flu after a swan was found dead near Edinburgh.
The virus brought to Australia has been rendered harmless by genetic modification, grown in eggs, then killed so parts of the dead virus can be used in a vaccine.
Researchers at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Melbourne’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute have injected the vaccine into 400 volunteers.
It has proved to be a successful vaccine against bird flu – a major breakthrough amid fears of a deadly new disease sweeping the world.
Should bird flu mutate into a new human-to-human virus capable of causing a flu pandemic, the work could cut time to develop a vaccine from the usual three to six months down to a matter of weeks. Such a pandemic has the potential to kill tens of millions worldwide.
RAH senior consultant physician and Adelaide principal researcher Dr Kelly Papanaoum said the vaccine had shown a success rate of just under 50 per cent. “We would have to modify it should a human pandemic occur, but it would only need minor modifications to produce the large numbers of pandemic flu vaccines required,” Dr Papanaoum said.
“The side effects are similar to a normal flu vaccine.”
Principal investigator Professor Terry Nolan said the results were encouraging.
“We can confirm it is actually possible to vaccinate humans against this bird virus using existing technology,” he said.
“We know we will need to use two doses of a candidate vaccine and an adjuvant to achieve a satisfactory immune response.”
The next stage of the trial will call for 800 volunteers, including the young and elderly, to further refine the vaccine, including finding the optimal dose.
The Australian government has already placed orders for 50 million doses of bird flu vaccine as well as 50 million syringes.
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