Date:10/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/10/stories/2006011001940200.htm

Back GlaxoSmithKline launches vaccine for whooping cough

Our Bureau

New Delhi , Jan. 9

GLAXOSMITHKLINE Pharmaceuticals (GSK) has announced the launch of its vaccine Boostrix used for the treatment of whooping cough in the country.

It has been registered for use in children over the age of four years, who have already received their primary DTP doses in the first and second years of life. However, the company claimed that people of all age groups could also be benefited from the use of the vaccine. The vaccine gives protection for up to seven years with 50 per cent lower reaction rate as compared to some other vaccines.

"Older children and adults have been proven to be carriers for the disease, thus acting as a source to the newborns with whom it may even be fatal," said Dr Sanjoy Datta, Director of Clinical R&D and Medical Affairs of GSK Biologicals - South Asia.

Besides this, the company is also conducting trials of the rotavirus vaccine. Rotavirus that causes dehydration, vomiting and fever has been responsible for nearly five lakh deaths each year. GSK has already got the approval to conduct the trials on 300 to 400 children.