Vietnam succeeds with anti-H5N1 vaccine

According to a report from the Vietnamese Biotechnology Institute, scientists have succeeded in producing vaccines against the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

According to Huy Nga, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Health Ministry, researchers from the Ho Chi Minh City-based Pasteur Institute have succeeded in completely decoding the gene of the H5N1 virus, type A, in Vietnam , paving the way for defining variations and transmission mechanism of the bird flu virus. The research lasted for one year with the participation of Dr. Le Thanh Hoa, the first Vietnamese researcher able to decode the H5N1 gene.

The researchers, in collaboration with their colleagues from the Pasteur Institute in central coastal Nha Trang city, are carrying out more research to produce anti-H5N1 vaccine for humans.

According to Hoa, the vaccinations that have been used for domestic fowls since 2004 are considered effective, as the past years haven’t seen any mutation of the virus neither in Vietnam nor in Asia.