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Sicily, Italy, April 9, 2003 - Because modern vaccines are very complex, it cannot be taken for granted that co-administration of two different vaccines will provide effective protection against all the antigens each of them is designed to combat. A careful clinical trial is needed to ensure that there are no interference problems or safety issues from co-administration.
Such a trial has just been carried out in Spain with the support of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK Biologicals). It confirms that its vaccine Infanrix hexa* can be co-administered with Meningitec** without a loss in immune response. This data will reassure physicians that co-administration of two of the most modern vaccines available in Europe will provide infants with the protection they need. Data from the study were presented at the opening of the annual congress of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, held in Sicily, Italy. More than 950 paediatricians from all over Europe attend the congress.
In the multi-centre trial 452 infants were randomised either to receive three doses of each vaccine concomitantly, or separately one month apart. Reporting on the study data at the congress, Prof. Fernando Moraga from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona said: "The results one month after the administration of the 3rd dose demonstrate that the two vaccines given concomitantly or separately induce the same level of antibody titres and seroprotection rates." He added: "Countries implementing recommendations for new antigens as new vaccines become available need to have this kind of data to be sure that the infants will be protected."
GSK Biologicals, the world's leading vaccine manufacturer, is located in Rixensart, Belgium. In 2002, an average of 25 GSK Biologicals vaccine doses per second were delivered to 156 countries in both the industrialised and developing world. 100 million of the 800 million plus vaccine doses delivered last year were combined paediatric vaccines which protect the world's children against a minimum of 3 and up to 6 diseases in one go. For information, visit GSK Biologicals' vaccines website site at www.worldwidevaccines.com.
* Infanrix hexa is a trademark of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. It is a hexavalent vaccine offering protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b.
** Meningitec is a trademark of Wyeth Lederle. It is a conjugated polysaccharide vaccine directed against Neisseria menigitidis serotype C.
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