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Technical and Commercial Feasibility of Stabilizing Vaccines: PATH Study

World Hepatitis Day

Smallpox Vaccination-Induced Immune Responses May Help Combat HIV?

Issue 55, 24 May 2010

Editorial Note

Debrah Kristensen responds to the queries on vaccine freezing. Steve Wiersma shares a note on World Hepatitis day and Omesh Bharti posts a link on new research that shows a link between smallpox vaccination and AIDS.

Technical and Commercial Feasibility of Stabilizing Vaccines: PATH Study
Debrah Kristensen responds to Faisal Manoor's query

Decreased vaccine potency is the main concern following vaccine freezing. It is also possible that freezing a vaccine with aluminum adjuvant could increase local reactions at the injection site. There are few published data on this topic however. The best I could find is posted below:

"Sterile abscesses are rare (~1 per 100 000 doses) local reactions from aluminum containing vaccines, especially DTP. Inadequate shaking of the vaccine before use, superficial injection, and use of frozen vaccine increase the risk of sterile abscess and of local reactions."

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World Hepatitis Day
by Steven Wiersma

May 19 has been commemorated as the World Hepatitis Day for the last three years. On this day, in 2010, the World Health Assembly is scheduled to consider a comprehensive strategy on viral hepatitis, including creating an official “health day". Regardless of the outcome, it is clear that viral hepatitis causes a tremendous burden of disease. In addition to the 159,000 annual deaths due to acute hepatitis B and C, most of the estimated annual 750,000 deaths come from viral hepatitis-caused cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for a number of elements of viral hepatitis prevention and control. WHO does not have a comprehensive strategy for viral hepatitis. To date, prevention and control efforts have been successful but fragmented. As WHO increases its role in hepatitis prevention and control, partnerships will be important to increase technical and financial support for these activities.

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Smallpox Vaccination-Induced Immune Responses May Help Combat HIV?
by Omesh Bharti

Ending smallpox vaccination may have contributed to the explosive spread of HIV, scientists have claimed. The suggestion follows laboratory studies showing the vaccine's powerful ability to curb the AIDS virus. It may have offered protection to people in the early days of the HIV epidemic, the findings suggest. But this would have been removed once smallpox was eradicated and the vaccine withdrawn.

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Photo Courtesy: Mojtaba Haghgou

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