Vaccine May Prevent TB in People With HIV

TUESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A new vaccine prevents tuberculosis in people with HIV, a new study shows.

Phase III trials of 2,000 HIV-infected people in Tanzania found that the mycobacterium vaccae (MV) vaccine reduced the rate of definite tuberculosis (TB) by 39 percent. The findings have been published online in the journal AIDS.

TB is the most common cause of death among people in developing countries who have HIV/AIDS, and the results of the clinical trials are a "significant milestone," according to principal investigator Dr. Ford von Reyn, director of the DarDar International Programs for the infectious disease and international health section at Dartmouth Medical School, in Hanover, N.H.

"Since development of a new vaccine against tuberculosis is a major international health priority, especially for patients with HIV infection, we and our Tanzanian collaborators are very encouraged by the results," von Reyn said in a news release from the journal's publisher.

The next step, he said, involves improving manufacturing methods so that sufficient quantities of the MV vaccine can be produced for further studies and possible use in patients.

Because people newly infected with HIV risk contracting TB almost immediately, the researchers said, it's important that they get the MV vaccine before they begin taking antiretroviral drugs to fight the HIV infection.

More information

The American Lung Association has more about TB.

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Chickenpox vaccine may protect kids from shingles

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Children who get vaccinated against chickenpox may have a lower risk of developing shingles, a painful rash caused by the chickenpox virus, U.S. researchers said on Friday.

A study of more than 170,000 children 12 and under who got Merck & Co Inc's chickenpox vaccine between 2002 to 2008 found only 122 cases of shingles or 1 case in 3,700 children who got the vaccine, an unexpectedly low rate, the team reported in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

Shingles, sometimes called herpes zoster, is a painful recurrence of the chickenpox virus, which can lurk in the body for a lifetime. The infection usually starts with a rash on the face or body, and causes pain, itching or tingling.

"The message to parents and pediatricians is: vaccinating your child against the chickenpox is also a good way to reduce their chances of getting herpes zoster," said HungFu Tseng, a research scientist and epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, California.

"We decided to examine this because it is generally believed that the vaccine would reduce the risk of chickenpox, and the risk of childhood shingles is not well quantified," Tseng said in e-mailed comments.

Tseng said childhood shingles is not common. "We do know that it occurs more frequently in children with an immunodeficiency," Tseng said.

Using Kaiser Permanente's electronic health record database, the team identified all the children in Southern California who were vaccinated with chickenpox vaccine from 2002-2008. "We then went deeper into the electronic data to identify which cases had shingles diagnosis," Tseng said.

Among those children who had been vaccinated and developed shingles, one had lymphoid leukemia, one involved drug abuse, 16 had asthma, 12 had developmental disorders and 3 had psychological or mental disorders.

Prior studies of the incidence of shingles in children who have not been vaccinated for chickenpox have varied widely. Before the introduction of Merck's vaccine in 1995, the rate was 30 cases per 100,000 people per year.

Tseng said it is not clear if children who get the vaccine will have any protection as adults, even if they get a now-recommended booster shot.

"We don't know how long the protection will last, but with the new recommendation of two doses it is expected to be much longer," he said.

(Editing by Paul Simao)

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