Vaccine for military reaches one-year mark

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FRAZER, Pa., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Teva Select Brands and the U. S. military have completed the first year of vaccine shipments to protect recruits from febrile respiratory illness.

The infection is caused by certain types of adenovirus and can spread quickly among troops in a basic training environment.

"Since the program began last year, combined data from the training installations indicates that the vaccine has reduced the incidence of febrile respiratory illness by over 75 percent and essentially eliminated the threat posed by adenovirus types 4 and 7," said Clifford E. Snyder, Jr. the adenovirus vaccine product manager at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity.

The vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year and is military use only.

Teva Select Brands is a subsidiary of Teva North America, which is a subsidiary of Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

"We are proud of our partnership with the military and we hope to continue supplying this important vaccine as long as it is needed by our government," said Michael G. McHugh, general manager and vice president of Teva Select Brands.