Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01HEA040408
Ten volunteers given second bird-flu injection
(04-04-2008)
HA NOI ? Ten volunteers were given a second injection of the experimental made-in-Viet Nam avian influenza vaccine yesterday.
All the volunteers, who work for the vaccine producer, the Ha Noi?s Vaccine and Biological Products Company No 1, reported no ill effects.
They were given their first injection on Tuesday, March, 6.
Volunteer Hoang Thanh Huong said all those injected understood that it was a new vaccine undergoing trials and that unexpected problems could occur.
But they were ready to live with a virus aimed at producing a made-in ? Viet Nam remedy because of bird-flu?s threat to the community.
Another volunteer, Vu Tien Dung, said he was feeling fine after a health check.
The vaccine was cultivated with vero cells taken from the kidneys of disease-free monkeys bred on Reu Island off northern Quang Ninh Province.
It has been clinically tested on chickens and mice.
The Health Ministry?s National Vaccine Examination and Biological Products Institute has confirmed the success of the experimental vaccination on animals.
Vaccine and Biological Products Company No 1 director Professor Nguyen Thu Van said: "Twenty days after being injected, the health of all the volunteers including myself is stable.
"Two people suffered pain where they were injected but that disappeared after one day. It?s a good sign because the body?s reaction to the vaccine is immediate."
The director said other reactions had been inflammation at the point of the injection; slight swelling and an itch.
Those injected could also suffer shock, light fever, tiredness, vomiting and diarrhoea.
These disappear after one day.
The blood of all the volunteers had been tested before and after the first injection. These showed whether H5N1 antibodies in their blood was high or low.
The professor said Viet Nam was one of the few countries to successfully make an anti-avian influenza vaccine for humans using vero cells that met international standards in the laboratory .
The project started three years ago, she said.
The results of the human tests would be known in a month.
The clinical tests, together with conclusions made by the Vaccine and Biological Products Examination Institute, will be sent to scientific assessment committees.
If it meets the required standards, the made-in- Viet Nam human H5N1 vaccine, is expected to be licensed and produced late next year.
The vaccine, named Fluvax, will cost about VND40,000 a dose.
The Vaccine and Biological Products Company can produce up to 2-5 million doses a year.
Wider vaccinations
The results of the experimental second injection will show whether the large-scale vaccination of 270 volunteers at the Military Hospital can proceed.
The volunteers, aged from 18 to 45, must be in sound health and not suffering from hepatitis B, C, HIV or tuberculosis.
Pregnant women are also excluded.
The tests will take about eight months to complete.
Five people have died in Viet Nam since early this year after they were infected with the deadly H5N1 virus. ? VNS
Ten volunteers given second bird-flu injection
(04-04-2008)
HA NOI ? Ten volunteers were given a second injection of the experimental made-in-Viet Nam avian influenza vaccine yesterday.
All the volunteers, who work for the vaccine producer, the Ha Noi?s Vaccine and Biological Products Company No 1, reported no ill effects.
They were given their first injection on Tuesday, March, 6.
Volunteer Hoang Thanh Huong said all those injected understood that it was a new vaccine undergoing trials and that unexpected problems could occur.
But they were ready to live with a virus aimed at producing a made-in ? Viet Nam remedy because of bird-flu?s threat to the community.
Another volunteer, Vu Tien Dung, said he was feeling fine after a health check.
The vaccine was cultivated with vero cells taken from the kidneys of disease-free monkeys bred on Reu Island off northern Quang Ninh Province.
It has been clinically tested on chickens and mice.
The Health Ministry?s National Vaccine Examination and Biological Products Institute has confirmed the success of the experimental vaccination on animals.
Vaccine and Biological Products Company No 1 director Professor Nguyen Thu Van said: "Twenty days after being injected, the health of all the volunteers including myself is stable.
"Two people suffered pain where they were injected but that disappeared after one day. It?s a good sign because the body?s reaction to the vaccine is immediate."
The director said other reactions had been inflammation at the point of the injection; slight swelling and an itch.
Those injected could also suffer shock, light fever, tiredness, vomiting and diarrhoea.
These disappear after one day.
The blood of all the volunteers had been tested before and after the first injection. These showed whether H5N1 antibodies in their blood was high or low.
The professor said Viet Nam was one of the few countries to successfully make an anti-avian influenza vaccine for humans using vero cells that met international standards in the laboratory .
The project started three years ago, she said.
The results of the human tests would be known in a month.
The clinical tests, together with conclusions made by the Vaccine and Biological Products Examination Institute, will be sent to scientific assessment committees.
If it meets the required standards, the made-in- Viet Nam human H5N1 vaccine, is expected to be licensed and produced late next year.
The vaccine, named Fluvax, will cost about VND40,000 a dose.
The Vaccine and Biological Products Company can produce up to 2-5 million doses a year.
Wider vaccinations
The results of the experimental second injection will show whether the large-scale vaccination of 270 volunteers at the Military Hospital can proceed.
The volunteers, aged from 18 to 45, must be in sound health and not suffering from hepatitis B, C, HIV or tuberculosis.
Pregnant women are also excluded.
The tests will take about eight months to complete.
Five people have died in Viet Nam since early this year after they were infected with the deadly H5N1 virus. ? VNS