Vaccine for Common Cold...

[Guest guest]

Frightening here - vaccines for the common cold..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/526904.stm

Cold 'cure' comes one step closer

Progress is slow towards a common cold cure

US scientists believe they have found a way of blocking one of the

principal viruses that causes cold symptoms in adults.

Their research has successfully stopped viruses from binding with

human cells in a test tube.

If the virus cannot bind with a cell, it cannot enter the cell and

reproduce, which should stop or at least slow its progress.

However, the successful production of a cold " vaccine " is still a

long way off - as conditions in a test tube differ greatly from those

in the average human nose.

The report comes from the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven

National Laboratory, and is published in the journal Science.

Scientists managed to tailor the bacterium E.coli, which can cause

food poisoning in some forms, but also helps to break down food in

the gut, so that it mimicked the cell protein which joins with the

virus.

The theory is that a vaccine created from millions of these proteins

would make viruses bind to these rather than the cells.

'Dead in the water'

Biologist Freimuth, who worked on the project, said: " Viruses

have to bind to cells in order to infect them.

" If you could interrupt that binding, the virus would be dead in the

water. "

The virus at the centre of this work was the adenovirus, which

accounts for less than 50% of human cold infections.

The vaccine would work in the same way as the antibodies naturally

produced by the body's immune system, but work more quickly.

Gene therapy

The team are hoping that a precise knowledge of the binding mechanism

will help other scientists use deactivated cold viruses to carry gene

therapy into diseased or damaged cells.

Many teams are working on therapies for cancer and lung diseases such

as cystic fibrosis which use adenoviruses as the method of carrying

their altered genes.

The limitations of " vaccines " for cold viruses are the methods of

getting them to the cells concerned in the nose and throat.

The Common Cold Centre, based at the University of Wales in Cardiff,

has conducted similar research on rhinoviruses, which cause between

30 and 40% of colds.

They found that while the technique worked well in a test tube, it

was far less effective in a live human, as the medication tended not

to settle in the nose for long enough to mop up all the virus.

Dangerous for the young

Although the common cold is only a minor irritation to most adults

who contract it, it can have more serious consequences for babies.

Dr Mackie, the principal clinical virologist at Yorkhill NHS

Trust in Glasgow, is currently witnessing a mini-epidemic of

respiratory syncytial virus infections which cause extreme breathing

difficulties to younger babies.

" An effective treatment for these viruses would be extremely useful, "

he said.

" We have had more than 50 cases of respiratory syncytial virus

infections in infants quite recently. "

--

(and this one's about Zicam - it uses zinc.. Why not just take 50mg

a day instead of waiting until you have a cold to spray it up your

nose?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/502943.stm

Spray could cut cold misery

Colds can last for days

The effects of a cold could be wiped out in just over a day using a

nasal spray containing zinc, according to researchers in the US.

Drug companies have been testing the spray - which is already

available in the US as a homeopathic medication - in clinical trials

and found that it reduced the average length of a cold from almost

ten days to 36 hours..

However, specialists investigating the common cold warned that it was

too early to tell if the treatment would be genuinely useful.

The spray - known as Zicam - is being developed by Gel-Tech, a joint

venture between three US companies.

Promising results

" This initial clinical research showed that participants who used

Zicam at the onset of symptoms significantly reduced the duration of

their colds, " said Dr Hensley, head of research at Gel-Tech.

The researchers looked at 104 people who had suffered cold symptoms

for up to 24 hours and gave them either Zicam or a dummy spray to use

four times a day.

Those using the dummy spray suffered sneezing, runny noses and other

symptoms for an average of 9.8 days compared with 1.5 days for the

others.

The medicine had " no known side effects, " was described as " soothing "

and could be used by children as young as three, a company spokesman

said.

Zinc has been used to tackle the common cold before, but while some

studies have shown zinc lozenges to be effective, there have been

problems developing a spray.

Tolerable formula

Professor Ron Eccles, head of the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff, said

zinc may prevent viruses that cause colds from attacking cells.

[ image: Ron Eccles said zinc can block the virus]

Ron Eccles said zinc can block the virus

" Quite a bit of work has been done on zinc nasal sprays in the past,

but most people have found them irritating, " he told BBC News Online.

" So it's interesting that they've got a formulation that is well

tolerated. "

However, he said the results should be interpreted with caution.

" It's a first report, and obviously the company does have a

commercial interest in it being good, " he said.

" We shouldn't read too much into it until the full results have been

published and independently studied.