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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A smaller amount of the standard dose of the meningitis vaccine may be just as effective as a full dose.
Meningitis infects the linings of the brain and spinal cord and can result in high fever, blood poisoning and brain damage. In 10 percent of cases, the victim dies.
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To find this new information, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health studied the immune responses to the meningitis vaccine in 750 healthy volunteers in Uganda. Participants ranged from ages two to 19. The immune responses of one-fifth and one-tenth of the doses were compared to a full dose. One-fifth of the dose was found to be comparable to a full dose.
This new information may prove useful for areas like sub-Saharan Africa, which experience epidemics every year. Mass vaccination efforts attempt to control the disease, but vaccines are currently in short supply.
SOURCE: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, published online December 2, 2008
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