Hong Kong: A team of scientists from the University of Hong Kong and the US National Institutes of Health have developed a new vaccine strategy against the H5N1 bird flu virus by genetically modifying a smallpox vaccine.
The new vaccine is potentially a sound solution in case of an H5N1 bird flu pandemic, which many scientists have been worried about, the study co-authored by scientists from the two sides said on Sunday.
China' Xinhua news agency reported that the new vaccine has proved safer in experiments on mice and that "a single vaccine dose ."
It is also expected to enable fast mass production by using cell-culture methods, which could help avoid potential production bottlenecks, as eggs are used in the production of vaccines currently on offer.
And the existing facilities used for the production of smallpox vaccines can be used to produce the bird flu vaccines without much trouble, which can help reduce the costs, the study said, adding that alternative strategies available involving genetic engineering methods have been typically expensive.
The highly contagious H5N1 bird flu virus has infected hundreds of people around the globe over the past decade, with the death rate standing at round 60 per cent.