Anti-Diarrhea Vaccine Backed
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A Food and Drug Administration panel recommended approval of the first vaccine against the leading cause of childhood diarrhea, the Rotavirus that hospitalizes 55,000 American children a year and kills 1 million in other countries. The panel’s unanimous conclusion that the vaccine is safe and works moves Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories’ RotaShield vaccine a step closer to U.S. sales. If the FDA agrees, the vaccine would be given to infants to swallow in three doses, at ages 2, 4 and 6 months. The FDA is not bound by the panel’s advice but typically follows it.
