The Nation : Birth-Control Vaccine Shows Promise

Researchers have reported promising but preliminary results in women injected with a vaccine designed to prevent pregnancy, raising the possibility that such a vaccine may one day become available as a long-lasting birth control method, the Washington Post reported. The vaccine, based on a pregnancy hormone, is the first of three to be proved safe in human trials. The experimental vaccine contains part of a hormone manufactured by the fertilized egg early in pregnancy. It is required for the pregnancy to continue. Thirty previously sterilized women who received the vaccine suffered no significant side effects and developed chemical antibodies against the hormone, according to a report in the current issue of the Lancet. The antibody levels found in the women led the researchers to predict that the vaccine probably will be effective, and they plan next to test it in fertile women to see whether it prevents pregnancy, said Dr. Jose Barzelatto of the World Health Organization, which sponsored the study.