Vaccine blocks deadly form of meningitis

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A vaccine targeting a deadly strain of meningitis proved to be safe and highly effective in protecting African children, researchers said on Friday, raising hope that it may help prevent epidemics that afflict many African countries.

The new vaccine targets A Neisseria meningitidis, a leading cause of bacterial meningitis in Africa's so-called "meningitis belt," a group of 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Researchers from the Meningitis Vaccine Project said the new vaccine produced an antibody response that was 20 times greater than current vaccines.

"The length of time individuals will be protected is probably measured in decades rather than in years," said Dr. F. Marc LaForce, director of the Geneva, Switzerland-based Meningitis Vaccine Project, in a telephone interview.

The group is a partnership between the World Health Organization and the Seattle-based PATH, an international nonprofit.

Existing vaccines do not offer long-lasting protection and do not protect very young children, he said.

The new vaccine is made by the private Serum Institute of India Ltd.

Researchers compared the new vaccine to an older one in a study of 601 children in Mali and Gambia aged 12 to 23 months.