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Cuba develops new cholera vaccine
HAVANA, 28 (AFP) - Cuban scientists have
developed a new cholera vaccine and are
ready to do "field testing" in
Africa before it is marketed worldwide,
officials said.
The vaccine is derived from a live strain
of a genetically modified bacillus that
transmits cholera. It was successfully tested
on 100 healthy subjects at Cuba's prestigious
Instituto Finlay, said its vice president
Francisco Dominguez.
"The research showed the antigen is
safe and highly effective," Dominguez
said.
The next step will be to test whether immunization
with the new vaccine maintains its efficacy
in countries that have high incidences of
cholera, and where people have secondary
conditions from malnutrition to malaria
or AIDS, Dominguez told reporters.
Cuba has held talks with Mozambique, Equatorial
Guinea and South Africa on possible testing
there.
Cholera, which had been all but wiped out
in Latin America, staged a deadly comeback
in the 1990s, claiming thousands of lives.
The Instituto Finlay has been behind a
number of new vaccine developments.
It developed the only effective vaccine
against type B meningitis which Cuba markets
in several countries around the world.
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