Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
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April 30, 2003
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"U.S. Pushes for Drugs to Fight SARS"
Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (04/30/03) P. A1; Gillis, Justin
U.S. government scientists are working on various fronts to find treatments and a vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), since experience with related diseases suggests that a vaccine is possible--though it will probably take two to three years to find one. The United States wants to be prepared in case the disease becomes a worldwide pandemic. Government laboratories are working on at least four ways to make a vaccine, including the methods that Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin used to produce polio vaccines, but the SARS virus is in a class of viruses that mutates rapidly, which could produce problems. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci says that he wants simultaneous research programs at different laboratories. Vaccines using dead viruses and weakened ones will be explored, and newer methods, such as genetic engineering, will also be investigated.
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