Where are they getting these figures?  According to the CDC, there 445 deaths from pneumonia in 1998 in the under 1 year age group, and 44 from bronchiolitis and acute bronchitis. - SM

 

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July 11, 2001

 

“Genetic Engineering’s New Goal: Food That Includes a Vaccine” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (www.stlnet.com) (07/09/01) P. A1;

Hesman, Tina

Schuyler Korban, a researcher at the University of Illinois, and his colleagues are attempting to create genetically-engineered apples capable of producing a vaccine against a common and occasionally fatal virus called respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4,500 infants die every year in the United States from bronchiolitis and pneumonia caused by RSV.  No vaccine against the virus currently exists; but if successful, the medicinal apples could join other vegetables and fruits as the ultimate health foods: edible vaccines.  Scientists believe that edible vaccines could one day be used to stop the spread of many diseases, particularly in poorer countries where traditional vaccination programs are often unsuccessful because of a lack of resources.  No edible vaccines are currently on the market, although two are in clinical trials at the moment.  These include a tomato vaccine against the hepatitis B virus, and tomato and potato-based vaccines against viruses and bacteria that cause diarrhea.  Charles J. Arntzen, director of the Arizona Biomedical Institute at Arizona State University in Tempe, says it is just a matter of time now before the technology is developed enough to make plants viable vaccine factories.  The real question, Arntzen says, is whether researchers will be able to raise sufficient funding to bring their medicinal plants from the greenhouse to the pharmacy.