| ■ Meningitis B Vaccine Shows Promise | 2008.05.19 |
| Preliminary clinical trials of a vaccine against meningitis B yielded "encouraging" results, according to drug maker Novartis. Doses of the vaccine were given to 150 British infants at two, four, six and 12 months. One month after the third dose, the children's immune response against three strains of meningitis B was 89 percent, 98 percent and 93 percent. After the fourth dose, the immune response was 100 percent, 98 percent and 93 percent, BBC News reported. "These initial results... show that the vaccine induces an immune response against strains containing the vaccine components. The next step is to find how broad these responses are against other strains that cause disease," said Dr. Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. Pollard helped run the study. This could be a major advance in combating meningitis, Professor David Salisbury, director of immunization, U.K. Department of Health, told BBC News. |