H1N1
MedPage Today reports that recent studies have shown one of the two vaccines used in England to prevent the H1N1 pandemic from spreading was more effective on children but also caused more side effects.
The adjuvanated split-virus vaccine produced higher seroconversion rates in both young children and children under three and older children than the non-adjuvanated whole-virus vaccine, MedPage Today reported.
The article states that the research on the two vaccines was reported online in BMJ by clinical researchers at the Oxford Vaccine Group.
The researchers concluded in their study that "The favorable immunogenicity of the adjuvanted split-virion vaccine in the youngest children in our study suggests that novel adjuvants could be used to improve the immunogenicity of seasonal influenza vaccines in this population."
The vaccines provided to the U.K. Department of Health, according to MedPage Today, were GlaxoSmithKline’s AS03B adjuvanted split-virus vaccine derived from egg culture and Baxter’s non-adjuvanted whole-virus vaccine derived from cell culture.
In the Phase II study of the two vaccines, children ages six months to 12 years received at random either the adjuvanted vaccine – 469 patients – or the whole-virus vaccine – 464 patients – twice in a 21-day span, according to MedPage Today.
