BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The first U.S. human testing of a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, began Tuesday at Maryland's Vaccine Research Center.
The experimental vaccine was to be administered to 10 healthy volunteers who will undergo periodic follow-up exams for 32 weeks.
The primary goal of the study is to determine if the experimental vaccine is safe for people. A secondary goal is to assess how well the vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies and cellular immunity, in this case, focusing on the SARS spike protein. The spike protein protrudes from the virus' outer envelope and helps it bind to cells it infects.
The vaccine performed very well in mice, reducing the levels of virus in the lungs of infected mice by more than a million-fold, researchers reported in "Nature" last March.
Bearing similar symptoms to severe pneumonia, SARS was spotted first in China in November 2002. The highly contagious virus sickened 8,096 people and killed 774 worldwide by July 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
