Vaccination News Home Page subscribe Vaccination NewsLetter
http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=21965&folder_id=1
9. Februar 2003
Norwegian vaccine against New Zealand meningococ epidemic
A vaccine developed in Norway will now be used in an attempt
to stop a serious epidemic of group B meningococcal disease in New Zealand.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has developed the
vaccine, and the first tests immunizising 75 volunteers in New Zealand last
fall, have been promising, NRK reports.
The epidemic in New Zealand has lasted for a number of years and is considered
dramatic, with 650 cases registered in 2001, in a population of 3.5 million. The
World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended vaccination of the whole
population.
The vaccine was developed by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH),
and is being manufactured by the Californian-based Chiron Corporation, in
association with the Norwegian institute.
The New Zealand Health Minister Annette King and the University of Auckland have
now announced the start of the second phase of clinical trials of the vaccine to
fight group B meningococcal disease.
Ms King said the start of the new phase of clinical trials signified a big step
toward combating the killer disease. She said that last year 26 people of the
650 who contracted the disease died.
Since 1991, more than 4700 New Zealanders have contracted the disease, 200
people have died and hundreds have been left seriously disabled.
Although the strains of meningococcal disease in New Zealand and Norway are both
typed as group B there are subtle differences in the make up of the bacterium,
which means a unique vaccine is required for each strain, the NZMOH states.
The Norwegian involvement reflects Norway's experience in developing a vaccine
to combat an epidemic of a different strain of group B meningococcal disease in
the 1990s.
The Norwegian Institute for Public Health is now in the process of developing a
vaccine to combat an epidemic of contagious meningococcal disease in African
countries.
(NRK/NIPH/NZMOH)
Rolleiv Solholm
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.