Experts examine global progress in vaccines.

2003 JUN 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Many of the world's vaccine scientists met at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases' (NFID) Sixth Annual Conference on Vaccine Research to present the latest research on vaccines against familiar diseases such as E. coli, measles, rotavirus, and smallpox.

Other research reported addressed vaccines against malaria, influenza, and HIV and those in veterinary practice, how the immune system responds to vaccines, and changing patterns of vaccine discovery, production, and use worldwide.

"The last several years have witnessed profound changes in the vaccine enterprise that have been driven, in part, by philanthropy, geopolitics, and scientific advances," says David A. Neumann, PhD associate director of the NFID. "The information presented at the conference reflects the breadth and depth of current vaccine research, and sets the stage for enhancing public health globally."

The Sixth Annual Conference on Vaccine Research is a noncommercial scientific forum that brings together specialists from diverse disciplines such as microbiology, immunology, genetics, epidemiology, and public health. Following are summaries of several studies presented at the conference:

* Although Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are typically found in the human intestinal tract, enterotoxigenic strains are a common cause of pediatric diarrhea throughout the developing world, and can cause diarrhea among adult travelers to such areas. Most cases of ETEC-caused diarrhea result from ingestion of inadequately washed or prepared foods. Worldwide, the bacteria cause an estimated 400 million episodes of diarrhea in children under the age of 5 annually, which results in 700 thousand deaths.

Captain Stephen J. Savarino, MD, of the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, and an international team has tested a new oral vaccine against ETEC disease in infants and toddlers in Egypt. In the recently completed randomized, double blind efficacy trial, Captain Savarino's team observed 31 episodes of non-severe ETEC-associated diarrhea among the 152 children given the vaccine and 40 episodes among the 162 children given a control preparation. This difference was not statistically significant, but several of the lessons learned can be effectively applied to speed up ETEC vaccine development. Overall, the results suggest that a killed ETEC vaccine is feasible, but that giving greater doses may be necessary to achieve protection.

* Measles, which is relatively uncommon in the U.S., continues to cause high rates of morbidity and mortality in other parts of the world. Breast-fed children may not be protected when given the current vaccine, because they receive antimeasles antibodies from their mothers that neutralize the virus in the vaccine, preventing the children from developing their own protective immunity.