Ann Arbor-based
NanoBio Corp. and the U of M have put together a new kind of smallpox vaccine, to be taken nasally. Essentially, it's dead smallpox up the nose.
This new-and-improved vaccine contains the inactivated vaccinia virus, a cousin of smallpox, which, when in the nose, quickly is recognized and an immunity is created. Right now, this has proved - in animals - to protect the subject 77 times greater than the normal smallpox vaccine.
Excerpt:
"The key finding is that we have validated in animals a new means of immunization that produces a unique and highly effective immune response without the potential risks of smallpox vaccination that are no longer considered acceptable in the population at large," said Baker. "The safety and speed of our nasally delivered vaccine would provide the necessary protection to the public in the event of a bioterrorist attack or a natural outbreak of a related orthopoxvirus infection such as monkeypox."
Read the entire article
here.
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