Additive In Bird Flu Vaccine May Stretch Supply

September 27, 2006

I wonder what " MF59 " is made from....? Something else to be on the lookout

for!

Article Date: 27 Sep 2006 - 16:00pm (PDT)

Researchers have achieved an effective immune response to an avian influenza

vaccine with doses as low as one-quarter of the norm when they added a

chemical mixture known as MF59. The research is published in the November 1

issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

MF 59 is an adjuvant--a substance that increases the immune system's ability

to respond to a stimulus. For this research, the investigators used

inactivated H9N2 influenza vaccines--not the H5N1 virus currently feared as

a potential pandemic strain. However, the study does suggest that if the

feared pandemic comes to be, adjuvants might be used to extend the vaccine

supply. Furthermore, the authors note, H9N2 is itself a pandemic threat.

The researchers vaccinated 96 young adults who were divided into eight

groups receiving different dosage levels, half of the groups with and half

without the MF59 adjuvant. The volunteers were tested for antibodies at 28

days and 56 days.

" Antibody in the blood to the influenza virus that you're trying to protect

against is what protects people from getting the flu, " said Atmar,

MD, lead author of the study. " What vaccines do is cause the vaccinated

person to produce antibodies in their bloodstream. The higher the antibody

levels, in general, the more likely people are to be protected from getting

ill or from getting infected at all.

" What we found was that when the adjuvant material was included in the

vaccine--at all dosage levels--the antibody response was significantly

better, and as low as one-quarter the dose worked very well. And a single

dose of the adjuvanted vaccine was as good as two doses of the vaccine

without the adjuvant. " This suggests that adjuvants might be used to stretch

a limited vaccine supply and allow vaccination of greater numbers of people.

Neither group experienced serious reactions to the vaccines. However, mild

pain or swelling was more common in the adjuvant group.

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