A flu vaccine that lasts

WHAT: The costly, time-consuming process of making, distributing and administering millions of seasonal flu vaccines would become obsolete if researchers could design a vaccine that confers decades-long protection from any flu virus strain. Making s…

Sloppy repair helps TB bug resist drugs

Shoddy work by a DNA-repair enzyme allows tuberculosis-causing bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance, scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have discovered. Reported in the current issue of the journal Cell, the finding could lead to new ways to treat TB without risking the development of drug resistance.

Gov't announces contract for safer smallpox vaccine

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the award of two contracts totaling up to $20 million in first-year funding to develop safer smallpox vaccines. The three-year contracts were awarded to Bavarian Nordic A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Acambis Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will administer the contracts.

Major Herpes Vaccine Trial Launched in Women

A pivotal efficacy trial of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent genital herpes in women began enrolling volunteers this week. The study will determine the vaccine’s ability to prevent genital herpes disease in women who are free of two common types of herpes simplex viruses (HSV): HSV-1 and HSV-2. The trial will eventually enroll 7,550 women in at least 16 sites in the United States.

New HIV Vaccine Aims for Global Effectiveness

Clinical tests began today of a novel vaccine directed at the three most globally important HIV subtypes, or clades. Developed by scientists at the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center, part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the vaccine incorporates HIV genetic material from clades A, B and C, which cause about 90 percent of all HIV infections around the world. “This is the first multigene, multiclade HIV vaccine to enter human trials,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “It marks an important milestone in our search for a single vaccine that targets U.S. subtypes of HIV as well as clades causing the global epidemic.”