Made in Shanghai
Clinical trials of a vaccine against norovirus have begun in China
According to experts, the effectiveness of the drug can range from 80% to 90%
The Chinese authorities have given permission to start clinical trials of a new vaccine against norovirus, which is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis. According to the Xinhua news Agency, the drug will become the world's first quadrivalent vaccine against norovirus.
The vaccine is a joint development of the Shanghai Pasteur Institute (IPS) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical. Permission to conduct clinical trials, which will last about five years, was issued on May 30 by the National Medicines Administration.
According to Huang Zhong, the head of this project at IPS, it took four years to develop the vaccine. Its effectiveness in preventing infection with norovirus, which is also called "stomach flu", can theoretically range from 80% to 90%.
Vaccine development in China and in the world
Highly contagious and in some cases deadly norovirus, which acts as the main causative agent of viral gastroenteritis, is diagnosed annually in approximately 685 million people worldwide. Norovirus kills about 210 thousand people every year. Outbreaks of the disease usually occur in the cold season, and children and the elderly are at greatest risk. The virus is transmitted through water, food, airborne droplets and through direct contact with an infected person.
In China, as the publication notes, this problem is also very acute. According to official data, in recent years, norovirus has been diagnosed on average in 156 children out of 1 thousand in the age group up to 5 years.
There is no effective vaccine or any medications against norovirus yet. It is not only China that is developing the vaccine. The USA and Japan are already conducting clinical tests of their drugs. However, according to IPS researcher Liu Qingwei, the Shanghai vaccine will be the most effective in the world.
Scientists have identified about 20 epidemic strains of norovirus, the SHINE portal clarifies. In China, the majority of infections are caused by four strains, against which the Shanghai vaccine has been developed.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru