Asthma Vaccine Seems to Reverse Lung Damage
A promising new asthma vaccine that uses genetically engineered bacteria has been shown in animal studies to stop the disease in its tracks and actually reverse asthmatic lung damage, according to results of a California study reported Wednesday by the Chicago Tribune.
Approved asthma remedies only control the disease's symptoms. The new inoculation, still in its developmental stages, is the first to allow healing, the newspaper said.
The vaccine, dubbed ISS by its developers at the University of California at Davis, stimulates the body's own immune system response against asthma. Early trials involving humans show it also provides significant relief for people with hay fever, the Tribune reported.
In tests involving monkeys and mice, ISS caused the body to recognize the modified bacterial DNA as foreign and triggered an immune system response involved in fighting infections. The process also appeared to steer the immune system away from its out-of-control responses to allergic reactions that trigger asthma and hay fever, the newspaper explained.
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