Fw: Researchers Develop Smallpox Vaccine Test

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----- Original Message -----

From: " Kathi " <pureheart@...>

Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2002 3:35 PM

Subject: Researchers Develop Smallpox Vaccine Test

> Researchers Develop Smallpox Vaccine Test

>

> By PAUL RECER AP Science Writer

>

> WASHINGTON (AP) - A laboratory test for the

> effectiveness of smallpox vaccines has been developed by a team of

> European researchers and it

> may be used as Americans start receiving shots

> against the disease.

>

> In a study appearing this week in the Proceedings

> of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists in Germany and France

> report they have discovered

> a test that can determine if a candidate smallpox

> vaccine can prompt protection against the disease in humans.

>

> The test also could be used to determine if a

> person actually develops defenses against smallpox after being

> vaccinated. The large majority will develop

> immunity, but not everyone.

>

> Dr. Bernard Moss at the National Institute of

> Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of

> Health, said the research is important

> because no scientist has ever identified in the

> human immune system the types of responses needed to protect against

> smallpox.

>

> There was little interest in smallpox research

> after the disease was conquered worldwide in the 1970s, he said. A

> detailed scientific study and

> understanding of the human immune system did not

> develop until the 1980s, long after interest in smallpox had waned, he

> said.

>

> " This finding will be very useful, " said Moss.

>

> The first author of the PNAS study is Gerd Sutter

> of the GSF-Institut fur Molekulare Virologie in Munich, Germany.

>

> Researchers are developing new and safer smallpox

> vaccines and the new laboratory technique can test the effectiveness of

> those vaccines.

> Additionally, Moss said such a test could

> determine if people vaccinated against smallpox develop the immune

> system cells needed to protect against

> infection from the disease.

>

> Smallpox shots were stopped in the United States

> in 1972, and the last natural case of smallpox is thought to have

> occurred in 1977. The disease was

> declared eradicated in 1980.

>

> But American officials believe rogue nations may

> have smallpox specimens that they could use to mount a bioterrorist

> attack. As a result, military

> personnel and some medical workers are expected

> to be vaccinated soon. The vaccine will be available to the general

> public next year, but it is not

> recommended because of concerns about vaccine

> safety. It is estimated one to two people per million receiving the shot

> will die from side effects.

>

> That's why researchers are trying to develop a

> smallpox vaccine that is as effective, but safer, than the current one.

>

> ---

>

> On the Net:

>

> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:

> http://www.pnas.org

>

> 2002-12-24 12:19:19 GMT

>

>

> Copyright 2002

> The

> Associated Press

> The information

> contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast,

> rewritten or

> redistributed without the prior written authorityof The Associated

> Press.

>

> http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1500/12-24-2002/20021224044501_23.html

>