High-dose bird flu vaccine trial fails, By Julie Robotham
February 18, 2006
AdvertisementAdvertisement

AUSTRALIA'S highly anticipated bird flu vaccine trial has produced immune protection against the virus in only a small minority of the 400 volunteers who received it, disappointing experts and throwing out estimates of how long it would take to vaccinate citizens in the event of pandemic.

Andrew Cuthbertson, the chief scientific officer of manufacturer CSL Ltd, said about half of those who received the highest dose in the trial - two 15-microgram shots with a booster substance added - had an immune response comparable to that for regular human flu shots.

But those who received single or smaller doses of the H5N1 bird flu antigen, and those whose shots did not contain the immune-boosting adjuvant, had a lesser response that was below the threshold for licensing human flu vaccines.