PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Saint Louis University findings: Don't pitch stockpiled avian flu vaccine

Vaccine that doesn't match today's bird flu can be valuable in fighting a potential pandemic

2011-02-10
(Press-News.org) ST. LOUIS -- A stockpiled vaccine designed to fight a strain of avian flu that circulated in 2004 can be combined with a vaccine that matches the current strain of bird flu to protect against a potential pandemic, researchers from Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development have found.

The findings suggest public health officials can get a jump on fighting a pandemic caused by avian flu virus because they won't have to wait for a vaccine that exactly matches the current strain of bird flu to be manufactured. They can begin immunizing against the bird flu by giving an injection of a vaccine made from a related, yet mismatched strain of flu to prime the body for a second shot of a vaccine that matches the current strain.

"A cornerstone of pandemic planning is the development of effective vaccines against avian influenza infection," said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University and the lead author of the paper.

"The results of the present study confirm the usefulness of vaccination with an H5 strain that isn't the current dominant strain."

Avian flu -- or H5N1 -- is a highly infectious and deadly virus that circulates in birds and has the potential to genetically mutate and jump between species to infect humans. Because people lack immunity to the virus, public health officials are concerned that the virus can spread quickly to become a pandemic outbreak.

In anticipation of a bird flu pandemic, in 2004 the U.S. government stockpiled 20 million doses of vaccine against the "Vietnam" strain of avian influenza, which then was the dominant strain of the virus. But the avian flu changes quickly and since then, a different strain of bird flu, known as the "Indonesia" strain, has replaced the Vietnam strain as the prominent circulating avian flu.

Researchers studied both the vaccine against the Vietnam strain and an investigational vaccine designed to protect against the Indonesia strain in 491 healthy adults. They measured the body's immune response to different combinations of the two avian flu vaccines. They also looked at how long to wait between giving the first and second doses of vaccine.

They found that two doses of vaccine are needed to provide protection against the avian flu. Giving the stockpiled Vietnam avian flu vaccine as the first dose primed the body's system so that a follow up dose of the investigational Indonesia avian flu vaccine triggered a heighten immune response. The immune response to both strains of avian influenza became more robust as the injections of vaccine were spaced further apart.

"The longer 180-day interval between priming and boosting vaccine doses gave the best antibody responses, although in a fast-moving pandemic, this is unlikely to be an option," Belshe said.

"The most surprising thing we discovered was the value of time. It's incredible how much stronger response you get at six months. There's something going on there that we know nothing about and is a very interesting area for future research."

Other areas of future of research include studying the vaccines in children and adults and examining the use of adjuvants, substances that stimulate the immune response to produce more antibodies so less vaccine is needed, Belshe added.

Public health officials might consider immunizing those who are at risk of serious side effects from influenza with the stockpiled avian flu vaccine, he said.

The vaccine could prime the body's immune system to mount a defense if the person is exposed to the avian flu virus and could be a powerful weapon in the fight against a pandemic, Belshe said.

INFORMATION:

Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, the research appears in the March issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

On the forefront of research in fighting and preventing infectious diseases, Saint Louis University has received federal funding as a Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit for two decades. One of eight NIAID-funded vaccine research centers, Saint Louis University evaluates new and improved vaccines for diseases such as influenza and novel ways of delivering them.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Soil science: Healing our planet's ills from the ground up

Soil science: Healing our planets ills from the ground up
2011-02-10
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Under our feet and ubiquitous, lowly soil can be easily overlooked when it comes to addressing climate change and population growth. But in the January-February issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal, a team of scientists say soil is an essential piece of the biosphere and more attention should be paid to protecting it. Strategies for doing so include refocusing and boosting research, and communicating its importance to the public. "The article is a call to better engage with each other and with those concerned about the coming stresses ...

Microsponges from seaweed may save lives

2011-02-10
Microsponges derived from seaweed may help diagnose heart disease, cancers, HIV and other diseases quickly and at far lower cost than current clinical methods. The microsponges are an essential component of Rice University's Programmable Bio-Nano-Chip (PBNC) and the focus of a new paper in the journal Small. The paper by John McDevitt, the Brown-Wiess Professor in Bioengineering and Chemistry, and his colleagues at Rice's BioScience Research Collaborative views the inner workings of PBNCs, which McDevitt envisions as a mainstream medical diagnostic tool. PBNCs to diagnose ...

Everolimus improves progression-free survival for patients with rare pancreatic cancer

2011-02-10
Houston - In an international Phase III randomized study, everolimus, an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), has shown to dramatically improve progression-free survival for patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET), according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings were published in the latest New England Journal of Medicine. James C. Yao, M.D., associate professor in MD Anderson's Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, first presented the at the 2010 European Society for Medical ...

Key role proposed for pediatricians in curbing tobacco use

2011-02-10
New Rochelle, NY, February 9, 2011—Nicotine addiction usually begins during the critical teenage years, and pediatric healthcare professionals can play a prominent role in promoting a tobacco-free lifestyle among children and adolescents, as described in an article published online ahead of print in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, & Pulmonology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online. Denormalization is a strategy for changing social norms and reinforcing a public perception of tobacco use as a health-compromising, ...

Nanonets give rust a boost as agent in water splitting's hydrogen harvest

Nanonets give rust a boost as agent in water splittings hydrogen harvest
2011-02-10
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (2/9/2011) – Coating a lattice of tiny wires called Nanonets with iron oxide – known more commonly as rust – creates an economical and efficient platform for the process of water splitting, an emerging clean fuel science that harvests hydrogen from water, Boston College researchers report in the online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang and his clean energy lab pioneered the development of Nanonets in 2008 and have since shown them to be a viable new platform for a number of energy applications ...

Key to better health care may be a walk in the park

2011-02-10
The payoff for investing in public parks and recreation sites may be healthier, more physically fit residents and a less strained healthcare system, according to Penn State researchers. Investments in parks and recreational services have a dramatic effect on health and fitness, say Geof Godbey, professor emeritus of leisure studies, and Andrew Mowen, associate professor of recreation and parks management. "There is a strong relationship between how much money is spent to provide such services and the amount of physical activity that people take part in," said Godbey. ...

Rice University technology in human trials to spot cardiac disease, cancer, drug abuse

2011-02-10
Heart disease is a silent killer, but new microchip technology from Rice University is expected to advance the art of diagnosis. During National Heart Health Month, Rice Professor John McDevitt will discuss the potential of this technology to detect cardiac disease early at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17-21. Cardiac disease is the focus of one of six ongoing major clinical trials of Rice's programmable bio-nano-chips (PBNCs). PBNCs combine microfluidics, nanotechnology, advanced optics ...

Revisited human-worm relationships shed light on brain evolution

2011-02-10
"Man is but a worm" was the title of a famous caricature of Darwin's ideas in Victorian England. Now, 120 years later, a molecular analysis of mysterious marine creatures unexpectedly reveals our cousins as worms, indeed. An international team of researchers, including a neuroscientist from the University of Florida, has produced more evidence that people have a close evolutionary connection with tiny, flatworm-like organisms scientifically known as "Acoelomorphs." The research in the Thursday (Feb. 10) issue of Nature offers insights into brain development and human ...

A race against time to find Apollo 14's lost voyagers

A race against time to find Apollo 14s lost voyagers
2011-02-10
In communities all across the US, travelers that went to the moon and back with the Apollo 14 mission are living out their quiet lives. The voyagers in question are not astronauts. They're "moon trees." The seeds that later became moon trees orbited the moon 34 times in the Apollo 14 command module. In this classic Apollo 14 image, taken just before the lunar module landed at Fra Mauro, Earth peeks over the edge of the moon. In communities all across the U.S., travelers that went to the moon and back with the Apollo 14 mission are living out their quiet lives. ...

Putting trees on farms fundamental to future agricultural development

2011-02-10
Nairobi, Kenya (9 February 2011) Trees growing on farms will be essential to future development. As the number of trees in forests is declining every year, the number of trees on farms is increasing. Marking the launch of the International Year of Forest by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF9) in New York on 29 January, Dennis Garrity, the Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre, highlighted the importance of mixing trees with agriculture, the practice known as agroforestry. "Over a billion hectares of agricultural land, almost half of the world's farmland, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Preventing corruption in the lymph nodes

Older adults with hydrocephalus benefit from shunt surgery

Strong-confinement low-index-rib-loaded waveguide structure for etchless thin-film integrated photonics

Kidney transplant rejection associated with changes in lymphatic vessels, new research shows

EWRR becomes an official EULAR Congress

How HIV enters the genome – Researchers identify previously unknown mechanism

Scientists create a mathematical model that explains esophageal motility disorders

As pesticides and wildfires rise, kids with cancer need resources

New research suggests integrating behavioral health services in pediatric primary care can reduce symptoms

Monitoring underwater bridge tunnels with the help of high-energy muons

Fast traffic algorithm could improve real-time traffic forecasts

Integrated behavioral health services and psychosocial symptoms in children

Disparities in utilization of uterine fibroid embolization

Chapman University research reveals tropical rainforest soils may fuel climate change as the Earth warms – Accelerating global warming

Older adults with Parkinson’s disease have increased brain amyloid without dementia

Deep learning model estimates cancer risk of lung nodules

Study reveals how different messages motivate people to take conservation actions

SwRI, UT San Antonio collaboration uses machine learning to detect pre-ignition in hydrogen engines

A new way to produce ammonia more efficiently

Kennesaw State secures grant to build community of AI educators

Impact of decline in rescue breathing on child survival in Japan

High-status producers have the support to radically shift their artists’ image, while mid-status producers follow trends

High-performance electrode material that withstands seawater!

Targeted delivery of microRNA sponge short-hairpin RNA via VIR-inspired biotechnical vector: Enhancing cancer therapy

When politics drives entrepreneurial innovation

FAU researchers show adopting healthy habits can improve cognitive decline

Outstanding postdoctoral researchers honored with 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

Fly through Gaia’s 3D map of stellar nurseries

Precision targeting of the centromedian nucleus in drug-resistant epilepsy highlighted in brain network disorders

Better understanding of bitter taste receptors: An AlphaFold3-based structure study

[Press-News.org] Saint Louis University findings: Don't pitch stockpiled avian flu vaccine
Vaccine that doesn't match today's bird flu can be valuable in fighting a potential pandemic