NIH Uses Live Viruses for Bird Flu Vaccine

[WASHINGTON (AP) -

In an isolation ward of a Baltimore hospital, up to 30 volunteers will participate in a bold experiment: A vaccine made with a live version of the most notorious bird flu will be sprayed into their noses.

First, scientists are dripping that vaccine into the tiny nostrils of mice. It doesn't appear harmful - researchers have weakened and genetically altered the virus so that no one should get sick or spread germs - and it protects the animals enough to try in people.

www.lasvegassun.com...

30 volunteers? If something does go wrong with this type of vaccine and they use more then they should I hope those 30 volunteers have their wills already made out. I, myself, really can't imagine why anyone would want to volunteer for this kind of research.


[edit on 20-12-2005 by CelticHeart]

good way to infect people and get the ball rolling on it spreading

That's actually a pretty common procedure used in many many many many vaccines. It's called an attenuated sample. It's done with bacteria and viruses alike. Nothing to freak out about. I've administered and had administered to me several of these vaccinations.

www.stanford.edu...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.chata.org.au...