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August 21, 2002
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Vaccine May Cut Disease by 25 Percent"
Australian (www.theaustralian.news.com.au ) (08/21/02) P. 3;
Tobler, Helen
One-year-olds and children between the ages of 15 and 17 years
will be targeted in the first year of an A$41 million vaccination
program against C-type meningococcal disease in Australia. The C
strain is less frequent, causing only about one third of all
meningitis cases, say experts, but it is more deadly than the B
strain, for which there is currently no vaccine. Prof. Peter
Collignon, director of infectious diseases and microbiology at
Canberra Hospital, noted that the vaccine against the C-type
meningococcal strain, though new, could offer protection for at
least a decade and could reduce the incidence of the disease by
25 percent. Meanwhile, New Zealand has spent $NZ200 million on
the vaccine and is working with the Norwegian government to
develop a B-strain vaccine.
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