H1N1 outbreak piques interest in vaccines
Not just infectious diseases, though, are being targeted through immunization

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- The recent advent of the H1N1 influenza pandemic has served as a powerful reminder of the importance of vaccinations to public health, heading off many terrible diseases and saving millions of people from infirmity, illness and death.

The government has ordered 40 million doses of H1N1 vaccine, and doctors are hoping enough will be ready for a possible surge in flu cases come the winter.

"There's a lot of interest in this vaccine," said Dr. Lance Rodewald, director of the Immunization Services Division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Very few if any people are immune to the disease. That's why it's a pandemic."

While immunologists address the H1N1 flu, others are making progress in creating or refining vaccines for a number of other major diseases. August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and medical experts are spreading the word about advances intended to protect the general public from disease.

The seed virus for H1N1 has been distributed to multiple companies, said Dr. Ted Epperly, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and chief executive of the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho in Boise .

"I think a lot of companies are a little bit reticent right now, wondering if this won't be a big deal and should we invest all this money," Epperly said. "We will have some this fall. The question is how much, and how much will be in the pipeline for the winter."

But researchers have gone beyond searching for vaccines just for infectious diseases and now are trying to develop vaccines to prevent cancer, alcoholism and other illnesses, Epperly said.

In recent years, for example, medicine has created the first vaccine proven to prevent cancer. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine prevents a strain of sexually transmitted disease closely linked to cervical cancer. Girls are now being given the vaccine, and regulators are weighing whether boys should begin getting it as well.

"There's no reason other types of cancer vaccines can't be done. There's got to be more work on this, but you can see the potential, where vaccines could be given to prevent cancer," Epperly said.

"Talk about a big deal," he added. "Just imagine kids getting vaccinated for stuff like that. That could potentially reduce adults getting these cancers by 50 percent. Talk about making an impact."

One team of doctors reported in May that a vaccine for advanced melanoma has displayed some promise in early trials. They found that using the vaccine in combination with the immunotherapy drug Interleukin-2 improved the chances of survival for people with melanoma, the most malignant form of skin cancer.

Other diseases for which vaccines are being developed or improved include:

• Group B streptococcus . These bacteria can kill or cause lifelong harm to newborn babies who contract it from their mothers during childbirth. "Group B strep is one of the big sources of mortality for newborns, in terms of infection," Epperly said. Scientists are working on a vaccine that could be given to babies shortly after birth or possibly to mothers before they give birth.
• Pneumococcus . A vaccine already exists for this bacterial child killer, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing approval for a new version. "The one we have now protects against seven different types of the bacterium," Rodewald said. "The new one covers for 13. It's got coverage for a particular strain that's on the rise that isn't covered by the current vaccine."
• Malaria . Though not a disease that poses much threat in the United States , malaria "is still a scourge across the world," Epperly said. Results released in December from two trials in Africa show that a new malaria vaccine has proven effective in preventing the disease in infants and children.
• Tuberculosis . An experimental tuberculosis vaccine has proven safe in a small trial, and larger tests of the vaccine are being readied.
• Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae . A vaccine delivered by droplets rubbed into the skin has proven effective in animals against these bacteria, which is a main cause of middle-ear infections in youngsters. Doctors hope the vaccine could prove to be a cheap and effective way of warding off ear infection.
• Respiratory syncytial virus . This virus is the most common cause of bronchiolitis, or inflammation of the bronchioles, in infants, which causes wheezing and can lead to pneumonia. "It hospitalizes thousands of babies a year," Rodewald said. This is a virus for which a vaccine is desperately hoped for, but progress has been slow.
• Human immunodeficiency virus . In many ways, this precursor of AIDS is the holy grail of vaccine research. "Obviously, everyone would like to see an HIV/AIDS vaccine, but that one's very, very far off in the future," Rodewald said.

On the Web

To learn more about vaccines, visit the National Network for Immunization Information.

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