Vaccine shows promise in preventing mono( A new study suggests that a vaccine...),Health

A new study suggests that a vaccine targeting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may prevent infectious mononucleosis, commonly known as mono or glandular fever. The study is published in the December 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

EBV is a member of the herpes virus family and one of the most common viruses in humans, with nearly all adults in developed countries such as the United States having been infected. EBV is often asymptomatic but commonly causes infectious mononucleosis, with 30 to 40 percent of adolescents who contract the virus developing the disease. EBV is also associated with a number of other diseases, some of the most serious being lymphomas and other lymphoproliferative diseases in people with compromised immune systems, such as transplant patients. Despite the frequency of EBV infections and infectious mononucleosis, the new study is the first to suggest the efficacy of a vaccine in preventing infectious mononucleosis.

The study was conducted by Etienne M. Sokal, MD, PhD, and colleagues at several Belgian institutions and pharmaceutical companies. The vaccine targets glycoprotein 350, a protein that facilitates the entry of EBV into immune system cells. In this preliminary, Phase II clinical trial, 181 young adults who had not previously been infected by EBV received three doses of either a placebo or the vaccine.

During the 18-month observation period, the proportion of symptomatic EBV infections was reduced from 10 percent (nine out of 91) in the control group to 2 percent (two out of 90) in the vaccinated group, indicating that those who did not receive the vaccine were almost 5 times more likely to develop infectious mononucleosis.

With these promising results in a small group of subjects, Dr. Sokal suggested the next step should be large-scale studies on the benefit in healthy subjects and ability to prevent acute EBV infection and post-transplant lymphoprolifer
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