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September 30, 2002

 

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

 

"Vaccine Research Shows Resurgence Contributions, Recent Viruses Spark Interest" Boston Globe (www.boston.com/globe) (09/29/02) P. A14; Smith, Stephen

 

Vaccine research is booming once again, faced with the daunting new threats of bioterrorism using anthrax, smallpox, plaque, tularemia, and botulism.  During the recent Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, researchers announced that progress was ongoing in finding a vaccine against Legionnaires' disease, and they showed how vaccines were slowing the spread rate of childhood meningitis.  Biotech companies like Acambis are making enormous progress in developing vaccines; the company is currently in trials of a smallpox vaccine since being awarded a contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to produce 209 million doses and a $3 million award from the National Institutes of Health is fueling Acambis' research into a vaccine against West Nile virus.  One company spokesman said that human tests on the ChimeriVax-West Nile vaccine could begin within six months.  Questions remain, however, as to  who should get certain vaccines once they are available for distribution.  Searching for vaccines is expensive both in time and funding, although recently funding for vaccine research has picked up, coming from government agencies, private companies, and individual philanthropists.

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