The Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) Friday released new data on the performance of a meningitis (hjernehindebetændelse) vaccine in West African children.
The new vaccine — expected to sell initially for 40 US cents (2,21 d. kr.) a dose — seems to be much more effective in protecting African children and their communities than any vaccine currently on the market in the region.
UDRYDDELSE AF EPIDEMIER I “MENINGITIS-BÆLTET”
MVP is a partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Seattle-based nonprofit, PATH, collaborating with a vaccine producer, Serum Institute of India Limited (SIIL).
They seek to produce the new vaccine against socalled serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus).
The preliminary results of their study, reveal that the vaccine could eventually slash the incidence of epidemics in the “meningitis belt,” as 21 affected nations of sub-Saharan Africa are collectively known.
The vaccine is expected to block infection by the serogroup A meningococcus, and therefore extend protection to the entire population, including the unvaccinated, a phenomenon know as “herd immunity.”
– This vaccine will make a real difference in Africa, said Dr. F. Marc LaForce, MVP director.
– The vaccine will allow elimination of the meningococcal epidemics that have afflicted the continent for more than 100 years, he added.
SIKKER OG EFFEKTIV
The new meningococcal conjugate vaccine trial, in 12 to 23 month olds in Mali and The Gambia, shows that the vaccine was safe, and that it produced antibody levels almost 20 times higher than those obtained with the marketed polysaccharide (un-conjugated) vaccine.
This means that protection from serogroup A meningococcal meningitis is expected to last for several years.
Kilde: www.who.int
