Synthetic Meningitis Vaccine Created

Cuban and Canadian researchers have developed a synthetic vaccine against a bacterium that can cause meningitis in young children. However, one expert said the scientific achievement may not be of any practical importance unless further study shows it works better than the current vaccine, which uses molecules extracted from the bacterium itself. The bacterium is Haemophilus influenzae type b, more commonly known as Hib. It can mount an attack against the lining of the brain, causing meningitis that can be fatal in the early months and years of life. Vaccines using polysaccharide molecules extracted from bacteria have been available for a decade and have become a routine part of the childhood vaccination schedule in the United States and many other countries. Although the prevalence of the bacterium has declined in developed countries, more than 600,000 infant deaths due to Hib-induced pneumonia or meningitis occur in developing countries each year. Now researchers at medical research centers in Cuba and the University of Quebec report development of a Hib vaccine using laboratory-made versions of those polysaccharide molecules.