Smaller vaccine doses prove successful

Press, 30 August 1984, Page 12

Smaller vaccine doses prove successful

PA Auckland A new hepatitis vaccine, the cost of which has probably prohibited a widespread vaccination programme, may be effective at only one-tenth of the usual dose, according to an Auckland researcher, Dr Paul Goldwater. This would cut the costs of the vaccine from $l5O for an adult’s course to only $l5. Dr Goldwater, a virologist at Auckland Hospital, has used the smaller doses in a trial of 70 medical students and hospital workers and found it is effective in 84 per cent of cases. Dr Goldwater said he hoped to do a second study comparing the effectiveness of the new vaccine with another vaccine not yet on the market. “The second vaccine was produced in the Netherlands

and is very much cheaper than the one available here now,” he said. A national task force was formed in December, 1982, to find out who should receive the costly vaccine free if the Health Department decided to pay for a national vaccination programme. So far, no recommendation had been made but the department said the issue was still “under active consideration.” Dr Goldwater said that although his study did not show how long the reduced dose was effective, there was a lot of evidence to show a vaccination programme should be started immediately. The assistant director of the department’s Health Promotion Division, Dr John Clements, said the department was aware of Dr Goldwater’s research.

“If the department de-

cides it will fund hepatitis B vaccinations then clearly, having local information provided by a reputable worker such as Dr Goldwater will undoubtedly affect recommendations on the use of the vaccines,” he said. Dr Clements said the department was aware of other vaccines on the market overseas but would not say if this was holding up a local decision.

Hepatitis B is a virus which attacks the liver, often resulting in chronic liver disease and may be implicated in a form of liver cancer. In New Zealand, the incidence of the disease varies greatly from region to region. True figures are unknown because doctors believe it is often misdiagnosed as hepatitis A. A study in Kawerau found two-thirds of all children were, or had been, infected with the virus.