This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Early trials of enterovirus 71 vaccine showed success
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Researchers with the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China have reported that a new vaccine against enterovirus 71 is both immunogenic and well tolerated among healthy infants and children.
The researchers divided 360 children into two age groups: 1) aged 6 to 12 months and 2) aged 13 to 60 months. Both groups of children received either placebo or the EV-71 vaccine, which contained one of three dosages, either 160 U, 320 U or 640 U antigen per dose on day 1 or 1 month later.
The researchers reported that “after two doses, all the participants receiving EV-71 vaccines were seropositive and the seroconversion rates were greater than 98%. In the participants with seropositive baseline, one dose induced good seroconversion rates of greater than 64% in participants receiving EV-71.”
The researchers said although three serious adverse events occurred during the study, none were related to the vaccines. However, many of the participants, both controls and those who received the vaccine, reported injection site reactions.
The EV-71 vaccine could enter late stage clinical trials in about 5 years, with the help of biotech companies, according to published reports.
The researchers said although their findings may not be generalizable to all health care settings, “the results here warrant further study with the candidate EV71 vaccine in more diverse populations.”
Zhu FC. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2012;doi:10.1097/INF.0b013e31826eba74.
Disclosure: Some of the researchers are employees of Beijing Vigoo Biological Corp.Disclosure: Romero reports no relevant financial disclosures.