>CONTACT: Marguerite Beck
>
>
>NASAL SPRAY VACCINE PREVENTS FLU, EAR INFECTIONS
>Child-friendly vaccine nasal spray means no more shots
>        CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 14 - A study published today in the
>New England Journal of Medicine shows that FluMist* intranasal
influenza
>virus vaccine effectively prevents the flu in children. Researchers
from
>the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center and nine other sites
>nationwide also found the vaccine to be highly effective at preventing
>ear infections.
>        "The result is a major breakthrough in the battle to immunize
>children against influenza without fear of the pain of a shot, " said
>Dr. Frederick Hayden, professor of pediatrics at U.Va. and one of the
>lead investigators in the study. "Perhaps just as important, the
vaccine
>prevented otitis media (ear infections) in the study children. We were
>surprised by the magnitude of the reduction in ear infections."
>        Of the 1,070 children who received the vaccine in the study,
>only one child developed an ear infection and fever, meaning the
>intranasal influenza vaccine provided 98 percent protection against
>influenza-associated otitis media.
>        "Pediatric influenza vaccination drastically reduces the
>incidence of influenza-related disease, such as ear infections, that
>cost money and cause suffering in children," Hayden said.
>        Ear infections have been rising sharply in the number of
>reported cases since 1975. It is estimated that there will have been 30
>million doctor visits last year for acute infections, which is
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>UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA - PAGE 2
>a 300 percent increase in office visits since the mid-70's. It is the
>most common illness for which parents take their children to see a
>pediatrician. By age three, more than 80 percent of children have had
at
>least one episode of acute otitis media and nearly 50 percent have had
>three or more episodes.
>        "Ear infections are triggered by a virus," Hayden said. "We
>think it starts by having a mild to severe respiratory infection, like
>the flu. The eustachian tube swells and traps fluid near the middle
ear.
>This gives bacteria a chance to multiply and cause disease, so
>preventing the flu in turn prevents the ear infections.
>        "The frequency of ear infections has led to a tendency to
>over-prescribe the antibiotics that treat them," Hayden continued. "As
a
>result, bacteria have become resistant to these medications, making
them
>increasingly ineffective. If we reduce the incidence of otitis media,
we
>should be able to prolong the use of antibiotics as efficient
>therapies."
>        Overall, the vaccine spray provided 93 percent protection
>against influenza in the tested population. Only 1 percent of the 1,070
>children who received the vaccine developed culture-confirmed influenza
>during last year's flu season versus 18 percent of 532 children the
same
>age who received the placebo.
>        The vaccine study enrolled 1,602 children from 15 months to 6
>years old. Researchers targeted healthy young children because they
>experience the highest incidence of influenza and are a major source of
>its spread.
>                                                              - more -
>UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA - PAGE 3
>The new vaccine is made from a weakened influenza virus. While it
cannot
>cause
>influenza, it is designed to stimulate antibodies in the nasal passage
>that protect against naturally acquired infection. Like the current
>licensed vaccine, the new nasal spray vaccine contains two strains of
>influenza A and one strain of influenza B.
>        The flu affects up to 50 million people a year in the United
>States. Epidemics usually occur between late fall and early spring.
More
>than 20,000 people die from influenza and its complications each year.
>An estimated $4.6 billion is spent annually on direct medical costs
>related to influenza.
> The study was co-sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy
>and Infectious Disease (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of
Health
>(NIH), and Aviron (Nasdaq: AVIR), a biopharmaceutical company in
>Mountain View, Calif. The company has named the new product FluMist*.
>The research was conducted at NIAID-sponsored Vaccine and Treatment
>Evaluation Units (VTEUs) at Saint Louis University (the lead center),
>Baylor College of Medicine, Harbour-UCLA Research and Education
>Institute, the University of Rochester, Children's Hospital Medical
>Center in Cincinnati, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore, as
>well as four Aviron-supported sites, including Vanderbilt University in
>Nashville, Tenn., the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., the
>University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. and Bardstown, Ky.
>        The six VTEUs are part of a network of university-based sites
>funded by the NIAID to conduct research into new and improved vaccines
>against major childhood and adult diseases.
>
>*       more -
>
>UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA - PAGE 4
>Scientists at the University of Michigan, NIH and Aviron developed the
>new vaccine.
>###
>
>May 13, 1998
>Note: B-roll about the intranasal influenza vaccine will be available
>via satellite feed on Wednesday, May 13th and Thursday May 14th at the
>following times:
>
>        Wednesday, May 13th
>*       1:30 p.m. EDT - C Band, Galaxy 9, Transponder 1
>*       3:30 p.m. EDT- C Band, Galaxy 6, Transponder 2
>
>                Thursday, May 14th
>*       10:30 a.m. EDT - C Band, Telstar 4, Transponder 9
>
>All transmissions are standard audio 6.2/6.8 and the feed will loop
>itself within 30 minute transmission windows.
>