| Sicily, Italy, April 9, 2003 - Because modern
vaccines are very complex, it cannot be taken for
granted that co-administration of two different vaccines
will provide effective protection against all the
antigens each of them is designed to combat. A careful
clinical trial is needed to ensure that there are no
interference problems or safety issues from
co-administration. Such a trial has just been carried
out in Spain with the support of GlaxoSmithKline
Biologicals (GSK Biologicals). It confirms that its
vaccine Infanrix hexa* can be co-administered with
Meningitec** without a loss in immune response. This
data will reassure physicians that co-administration of
two of the most modern vaccines available in Europe will
provide infants with the protection they need. Data from
the study were presented at the opening of the annual
congress of the European Society for Paediatric
Infectious Diseases, held in Sicily, Italy. More than
950 paediatricians from all over Europe attend the
congress.
In the multi-centre trial 452 infants were randomised
either to receive three doses of each vaccine
concomitantly, or separately one month apart. Reporting
on the study data at the congress, Prof. Fernando Moraga
from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona said: "The
results one month after the administration of the 3rd
dose demonstrate that the two vaccines given
concomitantly or separately induce the same level of
antibody titres and seroprotection rates." He added:
"Countries implementing recommendations for new antigens
as new vaccines become available need to have this kind
of data to be sure that the infants will be protected."
GSK Biologicals, the world's leading vaccine
manufacturer, is located in Rixensart, Belgium. In 2002,
an average of 25 GSK Biologicals vaccine doses per
second were delivered to 156 countries in both the
industrialised and developing world. 100 million of the
800 million plus vaccine doses delivered last year were
combined paediatric vaccines which protect the world's
children against a minimum of 3 and up to 6 diseases in
one go. For information, visit GSK Biologicals' vaccines
website site at
www.worldwidevaccines.com.
* Infanrix hexa is a trademark
of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. It is a hexavalent
vaccine offering protection against diphtheria, tetanus,
pertussis, hepatitis B, polio and Haemophilus influenzae
type b.
** Meningitec is a trademark of Wyeth Lederle. It is a
conjugated polysaccharide vaccine directed against
Neisseria menigitidis serotype C.
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