New vaccines for infant diarrhea

file this one under children's health...

The Washington Post reports that pharma companies GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co. have published the results of a study that tested the effectiveness of a vaccine meant to protect against a rotavirus that causes diarrhea in very young children. Released in last week's New England Journal of Medicine, the study looked at the effectiveness of the vaccine in 60,000 infants, most who began the study at 10 weeks of age.

The drugs are already approved in 20 counties, mostly poorer nations where diarrhea kills infants in startling numbers. Here's what the study doctors wrote:

"More than 2 million hospitalizations and nearly half a million deaths are attributed to this infection annually. The strategy of preventing rotavirus through vaccination derives from studies demonstrating that wild-type rotavirus infection induces immunity against subsequent rotavirus gastroenteritis."

Downside to the vaccine: Wyeth (Phila pharma co.) released a rotavirus vaccine in 1999 that had the nasty side effect of "intestinal intussusception," which means part of the bowel twists over on itself causing , in 15 children that received the vaccine. So, the company pulled the vaccine off the market.

It seems that 12-15 of this study's participants did suffer from intussusception, but not directly following a vaccine administration. So...it's safe? Safer?

The Post uncovers the greed factor: "Merck, of Whitehouse Station, NJ, initially targeted only wealthy markets, but, after lobbying by public-health doctors, embraced the idea of selling its vaccine at a cut rate in poor countries." Of course, the skeptic in me wonders what good the vaccine will do if these infants grow up still without clean water, enough nutritious food and a global system of oppression that determines the odds from their first wails in underfunded, unsterilized clinic rooms... :(

The good news here is that beyond the invasive marketing of luxury drugs to combat the "diseases" of restless legs and balding, there are actually scientists working for the big drug companies that are interested in making medicines that saves lives.