Vaccine study: lower dose may be as effective against polio

Reuters
June 23, 2010

BOSTON (Reuters) – Giving just one-fifth the usual dose of the polio vaccine may protect babies against the virus nearly as well as a full dose, as long as it is injected just beneath the skin, doctors reported on Wednesday.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The findings could bring down the cost of immunization, an important consideration in developing countries, some of which have had trouble containing the paralytic disease.

A needle-free jet injector made by Bioject Medical Technologies was used to deliver the vaccine beneath the skin at ages 2, 4 and 6 months. Blood tests showed more than 95 percent of the infants mounted an effective immune response against polio.

Babies who got a lower dose had fewer antibodies against polio but the researchers said that should not be a problem.

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This article was posted: Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 12:20 am

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